DANCE REVIEW : Spanish Culture From Arte Flamenco

A tiny, round woman with an almost childlike wholeness of belief when she dances, Clarita led a program of traditional Spanish music and dance at the L.A. Theatre Center on Sunday afternoon.

Her Arte Flamenco Dance Theatre could not challenge the standards of either technique or intensity set by other flamenco artists in the local community, but it served an appreciative audience with vibrant souvenirs of an irresistible national culture.

The team of Fabian and Marianela Alonso offered sturdy, reliable dancing--she wielding her chest, hips and hands dynamically, he displaying almost enough prowess in footwork to carry him through a powerhouse solo late in the program.

Soloist Daniel Ramirez chose a more magisterial, even minimalist flamenco style, but at his current weight could not deliver the sinewy line that should make all those long-held poses devastatingly eloquent. Besides appearing in the group dances, Susanna Montal ventured the daunting tests of vocal range and agility in “Adios Granada,” from the zarzuela “Los Emigrantes.”

Among the subsidiary dancers, Vera Flores Celaya made the most of her opportunities with highly focused and feisty attacks. But, of course, the afternoon belonged to Clarita--sweetly buoyant in Jose Greco’s “Panaderos a la Flamenca,” elegantly virtuosic in the sustained footwork of “Sarasate Zapateado,” boldly playful in the dramatic contrasts of Alegrias.

Although the gracious and versatile Marisol assumed most of the vocal duties on the program, the gutsy Angela Agujeta created a great stir with far fewer appearances. Besides capable guitar accompaniments by (mostly) Dan Zeff and Benjamin, the program offered a delicate, jazz-tinged Malaguena by Rodrigo and Alberto de Malaga.