Sí, Quiero – Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London

Choreographer: Mercedes de Córdoba

Musical Director: Mercedes de Córdoba and Juan Campallo

Flamenco attracts two types of audiences. There are the committed aficionados, sensitive to every nuance of song and rhythm, every variant of dance style. They can tell a cante jondo from a cante chico. Then there are people who just love the exuberance, the driving pace, the swirling fabric and the heels pounding out a beat so fast it’s a blur of sound. The international spread of flamenco brings in a lot of enthusiasts who don’t know what it means, but still think it’s really exciting and colourful, and features dancers who throw amazing shapes. Mercedes de Córdoba may well put on a show that satisfies purists but she undoubtedly puts on a show that impresses the newcomer. For extra points, she brings in scenes that are funny, and that is a very different change of pace.

With a set of dances linked by a notional wedding theme, Mercedes de Córdoba performs in front of two singers and the compelling guitar of Juan Campallo. There is a percussionist, but his contribution is very much in the background; the compás, the beat, comes from dazzling footwork and palmas, hand claps, that ring out like rifle shots. Two men in graphite grey suits stand with the singers just to clap. The palmas provide a continuous stream of complex rhythmic patterns, as de Córdoba and her quartet of dancers hold the eye in dazzling shafts of top light.

It is spectacular and a bit relentless, and for anyone who isn’t an aficionado, the dance passages tend to blur into each other. For them, perhaps the high spot of the performance is a wedding breakfast – the four supporting dancers take the stage and perform rhythmic miracles using glasses, bottles, spoons and wine coolers, as percussion instruments to accompany bursts of flashy footwork, swirling dances with tablecloths and napkins, a sort of symphony of found objects. Light-hearted, entertaining, and exquisite, it sets the scene beautifully for de Córdoba’s stylish final entrance swathed in dark red flounces, duetting with her singers and her guitarist, proud as a matador, effortlessly holding the eye.

The true depth of the flamenco tradition undoubtedly makes the experience more significant, but for anyone not immersed in Andalusian cultural traditions, it is an exciting, spectacular, and vivid entertainment with flashy footwork and eye-catching posing. The Sadler’s Wells Flamenco Festival doubtless offers delights for the aficionados, but it also provides a brilliant introduction for an audience that wants spectacle and delight. Mercedes de Córdoba, with brilliant steps and a refreshing lack of solemnity, is both a guide to a great tradition and a first-class entertainer.

Reviewed on 13 July 2023