Tonight the stage took a hammering. All of the joy and pain experienced by these performers found its way through their bodies and into their feet where it was drilled pneumatically into the floor. If performance is therapy, then this was a group session. Leading us through the emotional gymnastics was singer and dancer Danielo Olivera, carefully explaining the meaning behind each song before launching into a cathartic wailed melody.
For flamenco aficionados, this will be the closest you’ll get to an authentic experience this side of the border. Alba Flamenca is Scotland’s only Spanish flamenco troupe and they have become fringe veterans, performing in a basement with the scent of garlicky tapas wafting in from the restaurant above. Flamenco dolls in spotted dresses line a shelf, gypsy shawls are draped across stair banners adding a touch of Spanish kitsch to the dull grey room. Tucked away from the main festival, Alba Flamenca exists in its own world, where student gimmicks give way to hundreds of years of tradition.
The troupe’s portrayal of duende or the soul of the dance, the primal force needed to properly perform, is apparent. Many young dancers are deemed to not have enough experience to demonstrate duende. That said, the youngest dancer Aroa Paredes plays with the juxtapositions of the dance in such a delightful way. The pleasure of performing seeps from her pores. However, Saliha Haouachi was given the juiciest role. Her fiery palms and electric brows dominated the stage for one of the more intense moments. When it was all over, in a thunderclap of feet and hands, one woman sitting next to me let a little ‘wow’ slip through her lips. As the audience left, a group of school children began mimicking the shuffles and stomps of the dance. One even touched the stage as if in the hope that a piece of duende remained.
