OLE! : The First Family of Flamenco Follows Legendary Jose Greco’s Footsteps to Irvine

For nearly five generations of Americans, the name Jose Greco has been synonymous with Spanish dance.

But when Greco comes to the Irvine Barclay Theatre tonight through Saturday, Orange County audiences will also see a second generation of family dancers. The 72-year-old patriarch will be joined by daughters Carmela, Lola and Alessandra, and son Jose Greco II. Jose Luis Greco, the eldest of his three sons, will serve as musical director.

“I created the new company because of them,” the elder dancer says with pride of the organization begun in 1988. “People might respect my presenting them and discover on their own that they’re even better than their father was. I certainly do feel that, and I’m not trying to be a salesman.

“I’m even more proud that I didn’t have anything to do with it,” he adds. “They never saw me perform a step live. . . just on film.” Greco’s film career includes “Manolete” (a 1950 Spanish film), “Around the World in 80 Days” (1956) and “Ship of Fools” (1965).

Greco’s career took him away from his family so much, however, that several of the children, who had begun their own careers in the mean time, became estranged from him. When he offered to include them in a tour in 1985, when he was coming out of semi-retirement, they refused.

But three years later, they had a change of heart. They approached him, and the two generations of Grecos began dancing together in 1988.

On the Irvine program, the company will present classical, folk and flamenco dances.

“The star of the show is Jose Greco II,” the elder Greco says. “I can’t compete with him. . . . Still, I can justify what I was.”

Returning the compliment, Greco II, 29, says: “I feel very proud of my father. It’s something incredible to see him at 72 doing steps like he does.”

Writing of a 1984 program, New York Times dance critic Anna Kisselgoff said: “His fluency is still remarkable, his heel work loud and clear, and his daring jumps to the knee enough to cheer about.”

Greco, who was born in Italy and reared in Brooklyn, became fascinated with Spanish dance when he was a boy.

“My neighborhood had ethnic diversity, but from the beginning I was drawn to things Spanish,” Greco has said. “I began to go into libraries, look at architecture and painting.”

And to take dance lessons. “The teachers all upped their prices when they saw me coming (because) I learned fast,” he has said. “I absorbed everything they had and moved on.”

He became a partner of the legendary Spanish dancer Argentinita from 1943-45, and later, after her death, danced with Pilar Lopez, her sister, from 1946-48.

He formed his own company in 1949 and began touring the world.

In flamenco, dance technique is valued, but other elements are more important, the elder Greco says.

“Flamenco relies on emotional and personal evocation. Even without a lot of technique, dancers can justify anything they want--whether a very tragic moment or one of exaltation or heights of passion. They can do that with the emotional end of it. Expression in itself tells the story.”

In fact, he says, “a dance is called and defined by its emotional evocation, whether it’s sad, happy (lonely, seductive) noble--all of these have to have that essence in the dance.

“If you see a dance that doesn’t really look like what it’s supposed to be, even if the dancers are doing a routine learned from a great master, it will really leave you cold if they lack that other mystic thing we call duende ,” or soul.

What: The Jose Greco Spanish Dance Company.

When: Thursday, April 16, through Saturday, April 18, at 8 p.m.

Where: Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine.

Whereabouts: On the UC Irvine campus, Campus Road near University Drive, across from the Marketplace mall.

Wherewithal: $14 to $18.

Where to call: (714) 854-4646.