Gala Flamenca – Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London

Direction: Manuel Liñan

Gala Flamenca is a showcase of three generations of flamenco talent, allowing four male performers a chance to strut (stomp and clap) their stuff on the Sadler’s Wells stage to a standing ovation.

The youngest dancer goes by the name El Yiyo (Miguel Fernández Rivas). He’s a Gitanos, Spanish Roma who have been inextricably linked with flamenco since its origins. However, he taught himself to dance from YouTube videos and says the dancer who most influenced him is Michael Jackson. He holds his arms at firm right angles, his long hair flaps around his face and he has a huge grin. During his solo showpiece, he performs a dance without instrumentation, the only sound being the amplified noise of his heels and toes. His feet are fast, swapping between complex rhythms whilst his torso and arms stay still, it’s almost like Riverdance except those rhythms are distinctly flamenco. He wins a huge round of applause.

First of the two dancers from the next generation is Alfonso Losa. He studied many forms of dance and, in his solo piece, combines pirouettes and other ballet moves with a form-footed stomp. Aside from anything else, balancing on the high heel of a flamenco shoe whilst twirling is impressive. Compared to the fury of El Yiyo, Losa uses more starts and stops, holding expansive upper-body gestures before the next flurry of movement. If El Yiyo projects youthful energy, Losa projects strength.

Manuel Liñan is a completely different performer. Of the same age as Losa, Liñan grew up wanting to dance the woman’s role and incorporates far more swishing of the hips and fluttering hand gestures. For his show piece, he incorporates a large shawl which he swishes about and a flamenco skirt. This huge, ruffled garment stretches out behind him, which he flicks with definite movements like a fish’s tail. At other times he gathers the skirt into the shawl to tap out quick stomps of his feet, a seemingly impossible task with fabric everywhere.

The last performer is Carrete de Malaga (José Losada Carrete). Known as ‘the gypsy Fred Astaire’, he’s 83 years old and still has it. He comes out with a cane, but it’s just a ruse as he tosses it away and stomps and shuffles with the best of them. He loved Astaire’s films as a child and there is something old-school Hollywood about the way he plays with his jacket and teases the audience.

The music is performed on two guitars, with two male singers and a guest female singer, Sandra Carrasco. Her movements are as expressive as her singing, veering between loss and upbeat cheerfulness. There are rather too many musical interludes between the dancers and some surreptitious checking of watches happens at these moments.

What’s really striking about Gala Flamenca is how the different ingredients of flamenco, the claps, the walk, the stomp, the positioning of the upper body, can be combined in so many different ways. What’s more, each performer uses those same techniques to reveal aspects of their personality and convey them to the audience. Duende is the Spanish name for a goblin or spirit, it’s also the name given to the soul of flamenco. This performance has a lot of soul.

Runs until 15 July 2023