LEGS spraddling, heels thrumming . . . arms tentacling through the
air, head flung back with a flourish of possessive pride -- Cristina
Hoyos dances the Alegrias as if every step had her name stamped on it.
She is truly, a determined and vehement diva whose stamina more than
matches her continuing will to dance. And what if the spine is, these
days, less pliant? A shimmy of fringes on a clever costume beguiles our
eye if it should drift from the eloquent hands, or the commanding,
strutting rump.
There is no denying the passion, or the understanding, Hoyos has for
Flamenco. Traditional forms are celebrated in the second half of the
programme, Lo Flamenco, while her efforts to extend its customary
boundaries are seen in a dance adaptation of Lorca's Yerma.
Despite being a maelstrom of unfulfilled yearnings -- Yerma (Hoyos) is
bitterly childless -- there is a curious lack of heightening tension
until the closing moments. True the dance offers images of conflict,
anguish, desire but these seem bubble-packed, separate, within the
narrative framework while the differing elements within the music
undercut that driving, raw intensity one relies on with flamenco style.
Here, as with Lo Flamenco, the raucous, visceral energy of the dance
took its time to burst through the trappings of polished stage
presentation: cabaret-lavish costumes, a certain routine formality,
practised ''tricks'' in the encore. But, as has long been the case, when
La Hoyos decides to kick up her heels centre-stage, she can't put a foot
wrong with a festival audience.
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