Joaquín Grilo: a man's dancing binge

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Maintaining a large-scale production with only one dancer can be risky, since it can lead to unnecessary repetitions or delays that cause the spectator to lose concentration. But in Ladle and step back, which premiered successfully last February at the XXVIII Jerez Festival, the work is extremely well-rounded from a flamenco perspective – note the term from the introduction – and just right in length.

The montage reflects working life in the fields, the mine, the forge, and ultimately targets those who, as I said, Antonio Machado, are sources of life and sustenance for humanity, those who work the land or the forge, the work by day or piecework, so, from the start, the costume is a success, so much so that it made us remember the one that imposed Antonio gades fifty years ago, who is evoked in the first movement, where in the canteIn the harvest and threshing floors we see a Joaquin Grilo powerful in its execution of nods to Spanish dance, dedicated and energetic in the task of the action.

Solid support is the cantes of Carmen Grilo and a plethoric Jose Valencia, which adds a plus to the proposal, and security that the guitars provide Francis Gomez y Jose Thomas, forming the collective that we are before a well-mounted dance work, in which the conjunction of factors is achieved jondos necessary to give us that exquisite feeling of feeling that we saw a good dance show flamenco inartificial.

The second block takes us to the mine through a taranta dance, in which magical surprises appear with Joaquín Grilo that transport us at every moment to a parallel and recognizable world, with steps that come to life and elegant, subtle movements, with high technicality in the tap dancing.

Once again, the performers in the tavern shine with cantiñas and alegrías, to whom Grilo responds by making time on the table and showing himself confident in his dance, charismatic and enveloping with the voice of a José Valencia in a state of grace, and through a very flamenco, very deep as an expressive tool, and full of strength and intensity.

Carmen Grilo addresses the Cartagena de Indias table The Red the Espadrille Maker, as well as the miner and the taranto already on the proscenium, where a Joaquín Grilo with plenty of harmonic balance replies. And when the audience thinks he is gliding, there is no desire to take off from the ground and fly. Rather, Grilo is so personal and so jondo which places us in the forge and dances Valencia to the tune of martinete and tonás, pieces that move with a terrifying mastery of rhythm and from virtuosity to the elegance of someone who has charisma with elements of theatricality, since everything is perceived as well used and made with physical perfection.

«'Cucharón y paso detrás' has achieved this with a solid company, a varied repertoire and with a dancer flamenco "plain and simple, with a high technical and interpretative level that, while constructing a show that invites celebration, reveals its uniqueness, so distinctive that we welcomed it with an unbridled appetite for men's dancing."

Impeccable turns, clean footwork, grateful pulses, perfect arm movements and precise movements, join the optimal technical interpretation and the absolute dedication of a Joaquín Grilo whom we saw shine again in the last block, in the party, where they eat the sopeo with Ladle and step back but allowing the “pataíta” of the company quartet.

This is when the most complete meaning of bulería arrives, that of the meaning of mockery, with A Joaquín Grilo who offered us a binge of the best male dancing. A true explosion of energy and enjoyment, with languages ​​that seem different but are particularities of the audacity and distinction of the Jerez dancer, with an originality that filled all the seats in the theatre.

But beyond the description that is outlined, the Jerez-born artist's show leads us to reflect on how the current perspective can enrich the original, for which it is necessary to capture the audience with a clear proposal, stripped of trompe l'oeil, full of flamenco and magical information.

Y Ladle and step back He has achieved this with a solid company, a varied repertoire and a dancer flamenco Simply put, without any gimmicks, with a high technical and interpretive level that, while creating a show that invites celebration, reveals its uniqueness, so distinctive that we welcomed it with an unbridled appetite for men's dancing.

With this statement we want to clarify the one that enhances not feminine delicacy, but the one that stands out for the malleable essence of deep masculinity, sobriety, which is –let's see if we understand– the abstinence of all femininity; subjecting the musical times to his body language, pinching the endings, maintaining the haughtiness of the head, success in the turns, the substantial execution of the arm movement and the closed fingers of the hands, being repeatedly skillful in the handling of the feet and launched from the first second in the search for the difficulty of a personal execution.

It is what we might call a controlled binge of high-level male dancing, without mental disorders and so full of creative pleasure that, at the time of writing these lines, we remain in the bliss of happiness.

Credits

Ladle and step back, by the Joaquin Grilo Company
XXIII Biennial of Flamenco of Sevilla
Central Theater
1th October 2024
Dance: Joaquin Grilo
Special collaboration to the cante: Jose Valencia and Carmen Grilo
Guitars: Francis Gomez and Jose Tomas
Stage direction, script and text selection, canteand lyrics: Joaquin Grilo and Faustino Nunez