Düsseldorf: Flamenco Festival in the NRW dance house shows stars of the scene

Düsseldorf connoisseurs and experts meet from 28.October to 1.November for the Flamenco Festival in the Tanzhaus NRW.Curator Juan Carlos Lérida and the Düsseldorf flamenca La Cati explain why it is more of a world language than an erotic dance.

How do you think about Flamenco?Red dress, castanette, a subject, guitars, Spain.Juan Carlos Lérida is the curator of the Flamenco Festival in the NRW dance house.The Düsseldorf dancer La Cati gives workshops at the festival that has been organized since 1997.Both are ambassadors of an art form in which red dresses only play a subordinate role.

What is Flamenco?

Flamenco is an art form in which singing, dance and music are connected.He has its origin in the Andalusia of the 19.Century.In 2010, UNESCO declared him an intangible World Heritage Site.African, South and Central American music, cultural elements of the Sinti and Roma have been incorporated into the form of expression, in the center of which there are usually a solo dance and an emotional singing accompanied by guitar and percussion."Flamenco has many clichés.These include helpful elements such as the Bata de Cola, the towing skirt, or the castanets that are good for the rhythm, ”says Juan Carlos Lérida, curator of the Flamenco Festival in Düsseldorf, choreographer and one of the best flamenco dancers in the world."Flamenco has an incredible complexity.To understand him, no words are needed.It is an open form that is developing, ”says La Cati, who leads the beginner courses at the festival.

Is Flamenco an erotic dance?

"I am amazed that I am asked again and again," says La Cati."No, it is not primarily an erotic dance.Flamenco has a lot of strength, energy and passion.Therefore, the error is probably coming."There are many musical forms within the flamenco, the palos."They tell of emotional worlds: about light such as happiness or koquetterie, but also of severe such as death, loneliness or suffering," says the dance teacher, who is called Cathrin Pieper with a bourgeois name."The movement of the body in dance always has something to do with feelings and therefore with seduction.Dancing is pulsating life, only in this respect flamenco is an erotic dance, ”says curator Juan Carlos Lérida.

Is Flamenco Spanish folklore?

Most flamenco artists vehemently defend themselves against the label."Spain is the cradle of Flamenco, yes, but the dancers also adapt it to their culture.A Canadian, for example, developed her own style, a cold flamenco, shaped by her country, in which the snow lies for a long time, ”says Lérida.In Germany, for example, Flamenco was often taught in ballet schools.This results in a close connection.Japan currently has a large commercial scene with a strong infrastructure.

What distinguishes Flamenco from other dances?

Unlike other dances, the flamenco expresses many feelings."When I dance tango or salsa, the feeling always remains the same," says La Cati.Flamenco is more open.Good dancers and musicians groov and improvise like in jazz."The dancers are also musicians, because they work percussively with their feet."

Women dance with flamenco in red clothes with compartments and castanets.Is the cliché picture right?

There are red dresses, but the color actually plays a subordinate role.Incidentally, men also dance.The other accessories are optional and functional, such as the castanets.The accessories are subject to fashionable currents."The fashion changes.For a while the clothes of the Flamenca were smooth. Jetzt sieht man wieder Rüschen", sagt La Cati.Snailed shoes that are important for the foot work and pounding are essential for the dance.Juan Carlos Lérida primarily wants to break the stereotypes.For him, the focus is on perception of one's own body."I am a choreographer.I am a dreamer.The essence of Flamenco is your own pulse and breath.The body gets out of balance.For me, the towing skirt is therefore a useful accessory, because you can feel your own displacement with it."

Why is there a Flamenco Festival in Düsseldorf?

The Düsseldorf Festival was built in 1997.Dorothee Schackow, the former head of the Academy on the Tanzhaus, launched it and drove it forward.“The Flamenco Festival in Düsseldorf is unique.It emerged to combine the community and offer it both a room for performances and workshops. Lehrende, Tänzerinnen und Tänzer treffen aufeinander, kommen miteinander ins Gespräch und es entstehen neue internationale Verbindungen, die für die Entwicklung der Szene von großer Bedeutung sind", sagt Lérida.In the meantime, international sizes of the scene are also coming to performances, adds La Cati.

What is the goal of the festival?

Flamenco is a scene of its own, almost a cosmos.“I would like to open this scene and make it permeable by mixing different styles.Flamenco lives.That is why contemporary influences are always added.He also addresses young people with the street dance. Ich möchte den Flamenco gern zurück auf die Straße bringen, wo er herkommt", sagt der Kurator.

Can you try flamenco at the festival?

There are 14 on Saturday and Sunday.30 to 4 p.m., introductory workshops.“I have experienced how people have changed after starting dancing.For example, you can really make noise. Der Flamenco lässt niemanden kalt", sagt La Cati.

Which stage event is suitable for getting started?

For the festival, three different performances are offered on the five days. Im „Electroflamenco" mischt der Künstler Daniel Muñoz alias Artómatico Traditionelles mit elektronischer Musik. Bei „Im Flame" trifft Flamence auf urbanen Tanz.The dance performances by Belén López correspond to the classic flamenco.“She is an excellent dancer, very extreme, very excessive, very wild.Of course you could question the role of men and women in their dance, but their dance has something very romantic. Für Einsteiger ist das sehr geeignet", sagt Lérida.