I was thoroughly captivated by the remarkable dancers and musicians brought together by Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater’s Artistic Director, Irma Suarez Ruiz, and Executive Director, Jorge Perez in their latest production Flamenco Passion at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts.
The entire company of dancers were of the highest quality and training and the three 2024 guest stars, Raquel Gomez, La Lupi and Antonio Najarro proved that mature dance professionals in their prime (not just in their 20’s) can deliver dance delights that wow an audience and leave them breathless.
Raquel Gomez was a towering vision of strength and drama in her solo piece, the world premiere of “Resilience.” Antonio Najarro turns up the steam heat with the most spectacular solo display of dance and wildly complicated castanets playing I have ever seen in the world premiere of “Flamenco Tango”. The entire company came to life in the sexy, smokey and modern “Aries/Flamenco Tango” and company dancers Sammi Micklewright and Jonathan Pacheco shone as the sexiest, most fluid pair of lovers.
Raquel Gomez performing her work Resiliencia.
But the night was brought to glorious fulfillment by the life changing talents of guest star La Lupi (Susana Lupiañez Pinto). La Lupi, a mature virtuoso of the art form, takes the stage with the fury of a tornado, and at times bends that fury into the grace of a bouquet of modest pink flowers bending in the wind.
The interchange of these talented musicians on stage with the dancers was electric. Their wonderful soaring, and sometimes moaning voices, their rhythmically clapping hands and incredible guitar work was the impetus and background of La Lupi movements in particular. We were shown how live music literally creates and motivates the great flamenco dancer La Lupi the way stars in the sky affect the tides of the ocean.
I was completely inspired by La Lupi’s amazing strength as a dancer. La Lupi’s dancing is acting, and dance combined, and the audience was able to see all of the pain and joy of life itself in her movements. All of a woman’s life, her sex, birth, death, marriages and betrayals are clearly visible in her face and body - something that one normally only sees in a Broadway stage actor. In La Lupi, these emotions extend to every move of her agile fingertips, every slap of her hands against her own body and every stomp of her heels - precise and exacting as knives.
The lighting and costumes were fantastic as well throughout the show. In “Hidden Passion” for example, the female dancers appear in a smokey blue light, their beautiful faces hidden, wrapped in sheer blue material hoods, as they drape themselves around the bodies of their lovers who are dressed all in black.
In another piece, the shawls or wraps that the female dancers traditionally wear are taken over by the male dancers and used as expressions of male sensuality and seduction in a joyous turnabout.
I don’t often label a production as “must see” but this collection of dancers and musicians is without a doubt THE “must see” Chicago dance production of the entire 2024 season! With just a short three-day run at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts as part of the American Spanish Dance and Music Festival (June 7th-15th), we can only hope this production will be mounted again in the near future, perhaps at the company’s resident home at Northeastern Illinois University – so keep an eye open!
I highly recommend Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater’s Flamenco Passion for audiences of all ages who want to experience the true ballet of Spanish dance in its most exquisite and breathtakingly difficult expression.
