FLAMENCO dance queen Maria Carrasco believes music and dance are universal art forms, with no need of a spoken or written language to communicate.
Bodies will certainly do the talking tomorrow at the Damansara Performing Arts Centre (DPAC), in the 90-minute Concierto Flamenco which features eight pieces choreographed by Carrasco.
The Madrid-born artiste has essentially condensed the essence of traditional flamenco and combined it with the freedom of contemporary dance to present a fresh perspective.
Flamenco is the quintessential Spanish dance.
Explains Carrasco: “The origin of flamenco is still uncertain. It is known to have drawn a lot of its influence from India. We can see it from the dances and music of India and from the Arab countries as well. We can see it in the way they express themselves, the way they sing and clap their hands.”
She adds: “We can't say that it came 100 per cent from India, but yes, from there, the Arab countries and the Orient in general. When the gypsies settled in the Iberian peninsula, their dances and music mixed with the folkloric dances and music that already existed in Iberia too. This later went on to include influences from the New World (America), from which we get the Rumba, Guajira and several other styles.”
Flamenco dance is also symbolised by energy and passion. Carrasco, born in Madrid's flamenco district called Anton Martin, took up the dance style at 4.
"I would spend the whole day, dancing flamenco, so my parents signed me up for classes," she says.
After years of flamenco training, she went abroad to study classical, modern and other dance styles. The award-winning graduate in dance studies and other genres is now a choreographer, lecturer and runs her own dance studio.
Concierto Flamenco, presented by Ballet Flamenco Maria Carrasco and supported by Embassy of Spain, will not only offer new choreography but also use modern music. Carrasco gets criticisms about that from flamenco purists.
"But there is also praise from those who see that you aren't just drawing from the canons of flamenco, who recognise that flamenco is a living, and therefore evolving, art form, that continues evolving, as all great art forms do," she says.
The show will offer pieces including Sevillanas de la vida, Martinetes y Bulerías, Alegrías and Fin de fiesta, Bulerías.
Carrasco says: "This is an art form that transmits from soul to soul, and which can be communicated without words, but simply with feelings."
CONCIERTO FLAMENCO
When: Tomorrow (Nov 17), 8pm
Where: DPAC, H-01, Empire Damansara, Jalan PJU 8/8, Damansara Perdana, PJ
Admission: RM58
Call 03-4065 0001 or visit www.dpac.com.my.