Dance Review : Montes, Molina: A Theatrical Flamenco

Anchoring the programs of two different flamenco groups appearing locally over the weekend were bursts of individualized dancing in efforts to recreate the ambience of a cafe cantante. Otherwise, dismayingly, both troupes turned to submerging personalities in favor of theatrical stylizations and symmetries--at times, even balleticisms--not to mention use of dully reproduced recorded music.

Lola Montes and Her Spanish Dancers appeared Saturday at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa. The company Jose Molina Bailes Espanoles was seen Sunday at Ambassador Auditorium.

Montes and her troupe have been dancing in the Southland and across the country since the late ‘40s. On the evidence Saturday, the now 10-member company appears to be operating on a shoestring and the worthy leader dancing well past her prime. Guest artist Roberto Amaral, who has his own flamenco group, helped invigorate an otherwise largely tired and low-voltage program.

Montes still maintains an arresting, stylish carriage and can project a youthful, playful personality when she wants. But there is no overlooking the simplified footwork and cautious movement.

Perhaps not to contrast too greatly with her, the five other women in the company tended to dance with light, unemphatic footwork, and most exhibited less than ideal tension and stretch in the back. The two men--Daniel Ramirez and Ramon Nunez--were given more extrovert opportunities.

Amaral danced his Alegrias strongly, with the diminuendo-and-crescendo footwork which can be considered a signature motif.

A throaty Chinin de Triana and capable guitarist Gino D’Auri provided the live accompaniment.

Molina, who formed his own company in 1962 after serving as Jose Greco’s lead dancer for five years, remains a powerful dancer.

In his solo opportunities, he offered long sequences of rapid, complicated rhythms punctuated by drop-dead stops that often caught the audience off guard.

Although both groups also used other choreographers, Molina did not hesitate to give his dancers flashy and challenging steps, even in the stylized opening dances.

But in a cuadro flamenco, the three women came into their own. Damaris Ferrer danced an Alegrias with sinuous and willowy arms and controlled, weighty footwork.

Nelida Tirado developed expansive openness through serpentine inwardness to implosive sensuality and fiery terminations in her Tientos. Zaharula danced a Soleares with chains of inexorable, accelerating tension. Here were the three individuals submerged in the opening half of the program.

Singer Dominico Caro and guitarists Carlos Rubio (who also played a busy, meandering solo) and Geraldo Alcala provided the fine live accompaniment.