Flamenco Fright Night

On October 31, 2003, classical flamenco was exhumed, and its 20-year-old bones were exhibited. No doubt about it, Ms. Cristina Hoyos is a relic from the past, and certainly deserves recognition for the classical flamenco from years gone by. Like many others, we had heard so much of Ms. Hoyos' talents, and flamenco artistry. We had viewed video performances, and were aware of her classical flamenco style. Thus, we had suspected that we would probably see more of the same, but we were not certain . . . until the curtain opened.

Halloween is a strange American holiday event. How odd, that Ms. Hoyos' classical flamenco troupe was brought to perform on this macabre day, and that we would end up viewing a "Night of the Flamenco Dead." Why do we say this? Remember the flamenco of the 60's? It was when flamenco was being staged as though it was classically trained, much like ballet. It was Jose Greco, prettily posturing on stage with Nana Lorca. Yes, that was the beginning of classical flamenco. Ms. Hoyos' production represents the continuation of this genre. Like all classical flamenco, Ms. Hoyos' flamenco was perfectly set, perfectly compartmentalized. The boys were oh so pretty, and prissy; the girls were appropriately coquettish, and symmetrical; the positions were held, and everyone was in sync. Body line is everything; flamenco is just an afterthought. In many ways, it reminded us of our showroom productions on the Las Vegas strip - all that was missing were the g-strings, and the feathers. Seriously, imagine in your head what we have just described. Back in the 60's these productions were so rare; now, this type of show is considered "passé." Truthfully, it was somewhat eerie (creepy?) to see something come back from the dead.

Why do we not mourn its passing?? For us, performances that have some degree of spontaneity are an essential ingredient for a passionate, or exciting flamenco show. The possibility that a performer might decide to do something other than what is expected - is an exhilarating feeling. We did not feel this from Ms. Hoyos' production. Yes, we appreciated the talent, and the hard work it takes to arrive at Ms. Hoyos' caliber. As stated before, she is a splendid choreographer, but we felt that we walked away empty handed. There was no "Did you see that?" Except . . .

What we did end up seeing (and hearing), was footwork that was not in "compas" - mainly the girls, sometimes the boys. The musicians music was blaring loudly, and needed adjusting. It was obvious that the singers were using the wrong type of mikes. (Santa Barbara - someone needs to put some of their money into a decent sound system. And what about that floor, was it "dead," or what?? Don't you guys have a Santa Barbara Spanish Days? Folks, the Lobero Theater is definitely in need of repairs. When we invite someone to visit the United States, let us not appear provincial in the stage/tech department.) The girls' costumes were ill fitted; they bunched and puckered at their rears. Dez made a comment concerning the ill fitted tops of their dresses. We won't go into repeating it, except to say that they were extremely distracting. (How much does a good seamstress cost; did someone run out of money?)

One last comment - we don't know if this was done purposely, but the publicity photo which was printed on the brochure, the newspaper, and the Santa Barbara flamenco web site, was that of Ms. Hoyos posing as if she were a vampire, a la Bela Legosi. A flamenco faux pas? Was this inadvertently part of the "Living Dead" theme, a portent of things that go bump in the night? How about "Flamenco Fright Night?" Boo. Hoo knows.