Miguel Salvatierra I Sevilla, (EFE).- Flamenco, religion and ancient music come together in ‘Liturgia’, a show devised by the Madrid-born bailaor and choreographer José Maya in which the spectator lives a mystical immersion in what is a journey through the “old and millennial” songs of the cultures that have passed through Andalusia.
An “experience” full of religious references, not only Christian, but also Jewish, Armenian and even Arab that are increased by the magnificence of the temples where an entire ceremonial is performed where ancient music is the main protagonist.
The Shema of Israel, the Gregorian chant and the Cántigas a Santa María by Alfonso X el Sabio are mixed with seguiriyas, soleares and saetas which, together with flamenco dancing, create an atmosphere full of “respect” and “truth”.
The repertoire is completed by fandangos, Machado’s saeta, Mozarabic singing, bulerías al golpe and jotas-romance among other music that civilizations left as a legacy after passing through Andalusia.
very big sensations
This “flamenco liturgy” plays the role of “inheritance” of the set of different ways of conceiving religious rites in Andalusia, Spain and the Mediterranean throughout the centuries, and is the result of the “assimilation and continuation” of each one of the influences of the different towns that chose Andalusia to settle.
The ideologue of the work, José Maya, in statements to EFE, has recognized that “very great levels of sensations are reached” in a show that they cannot conceive of performing anywhere other than a church, despite the offers that, he has recognized, they have received to represent it in different theaters throughout the Spanish geography.
And it is that in places of worship “everything changes” and what is done “acquires a very important dimension” for the public who, he has confessed, will be surprised by the “silence” that is mixed with dancing and singing .
Fray Javier Rodríguez, parish priest of the church of San Jacinto in Seville, the place where this performance was presented to the public for the first time, told EFE that he was “enthusiastic” about the idea when it was proposed to him and that it seemed “surprising” to a staging in a scene that he has described as “impressive” and “exquisite”.
The Saint-Jean de Montmartre church in Paris
The show, which lasts just over an hour, has also evolved, giving birth to two different parts: ‘La Palabra y El Pan’ and ‘El vino’ are independent from each other but are framed in the same project that will join in a two-hour movie this 2023.
“We want to propose a different way of approaching flamenco and relocate it from the usual scenarios to relocate it to the places where this art has derived from”, said José Maya about a project that, before transferring it to the churches, took two years of previous investigation and observation of the ancient songs to create a particular “Andalusian liturgy”.
Only a semicircle formed by a hundred candles lights a representation strongly marked by the immensity of important temples where it has already been represented, such as the church of Saint-Jean de Montmartre, in Paris, that of Pepetuo Socorro in Madrid, or that of Santiago in Jerez, where this show will travel on March 24 and which will serve as the starting signal for the Jerez Flamenco Festival.
Rafael Jiménez ‘Falo’, scholarly master of ancient cantes, Sandra Carrasco, José Luis López on cello and Diego Amador junior on cante and percussion complete a cast of artists who will sing to the music of history through flamenco. EFE
