Showcasing flamenco at its purest, Jesús Carmona’s Compañía de Danza opens this year’s Flamenco Festival at Sadler’s Wells. Instructive, exciting and sweaty, UnYdos (united in the Spanish) demonstrates that all you need for a flamenco performance is a couple of dancers, three voices and a guitar.
However, the 90-minute show begins in silence as the globally renowned star enters the stage alone, his face obscured under the lights that provide a bright box. The odd scraping sounds come from his feet as he makes circular arcs on the floor. But soon after these marcaje, Carmona launches into explosive dance, the zapateado so loud, it seems that there must be mics attached to the soles of his shoes.
After this impressive start, the rest of the company joins him, as well as two special guests. The first is Lucia Campillo, who joins Carmona in a thrilling pas de deux, full of dramatic tableaux caught well by Juanjo Hernández Trigueros’s light design. Her wrists work overtime as she creates elegant shapes. Later, her arms are just as imposing when she dances with a mantón, its frilled edges alive as she is.
The second guest artist is singer Jesús Corbacho, who won the prestigious Lámpara Minera at Madrid’s competition for best flamenco singer in 2024. Looking a bit like Queen’s Brian May, his voice is incredible as it soars plaintively from the stage. The other two singers, Eleazar Cerreduela and Francisco Blanco (Al-Blanco), are just as good, with the former delivering the sole accompaniment for Carmona in one segment.
The energy of the company never flags, and there is never a dull moment, although it’s a shame that Carmona and Campillo don’t dance together more. At one point, she comes on wearing an impossibly heavy salmon-pink dress, kicking back her heels to make it lift off the floor. Carmona’s outfits are more practical, but he mirrors her movements in a way when he grabs the corner of his short suit jacket as his feet stamp on the floor.
Completing the company is José Manuel Martinez Muñoz “El Peli” on guitar. However, as the singers clap and keep rhythm with their feet, his guitar is not the only sound we hear. Indeed, the musicians’ choreography is just as compelling as Carmona’s, which perhaps acts as a diversion to the final number. But, as UnYdos proves, flamenco is not just about the feet and the wrists, but a union of music and dance.
Runs until 17 June 2026
The Flamenco Festival runs until 29 June 2026
