Embracing Change

Cantes de ida y vuelta, a genre of flamenco repertory popular in the 1930s and ‘40s, translates from the Spanish as “songs that left and returned.” The genre’s name refers to music and dance traditions that left with Spanish conquistadors setting sail for unexplored worlds and returned bearing sounds and nuances of movement that ultimately led to new traditions.

So, too, the Irvine Barclay Theatre enters uncharted territory with La Tania Flamenco Ensemble’s “Abrazo: Cantes de Ida y Vuelta.” The presenter’s first commissioned work, “Abrazo” was developed in conjunction with the New York-based foundation Meet the Composer. It serves as the centerpiece for five performances today through Sunday.

Choreographed by company artistic director Tania Leullieux, a.k.a. La Tania, “Abrazo” features an original score by flamenco guitarist Juan Antonio Suarez, a.k.a. Canito. The program also includes a mix of solos and duets by La Tania, Alegria Suarez and guest dancer Andres Marin. On Thursday, La Tania will present the Southern California premiere of Leullieux’s solo “Sonidos Negros.”

“Abrazo” is a departure for the flamenco ensemble as well as for the Barclay.

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“To begin with, it’s approached more in the way a modern dance company approaches choreography,” said Leullieux, who was born in France and raised in Spain. Typically, musicians adapt to her dancing. “[But] this is different,” she explained. “This is a 40-minute piece, composed from beginning to end. All structures are [geared to] the music, not the music to the dance.”

“Only the singing is traditional,” she continued. “The rest is all new music and all new dance. Even the tuning of the guitars is nontraditional.”

Don’t look for “Abrazo” to go the turista castanets-and-petticoats route.

Leullieux, whose company arrives following a residency at the El Flamenco club in Tokyo, had applied for the commission grant before entering into discussions with the Barclay, which hosted two sold-out La Tania shows last season.

To grant funds through its Composer/Choreographer Project, Meet the Composer stipulates at least six North American performances of the proposed work. For its role in the commission, the Barclay agreed to schedule five, and the foundation allowed the change.

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According to Barclay President Doug Rankin, the facility staff has for years considered commissioning works.

“From the theater’s perspective, it adds excitement,” Rankin said. “The audience is seeing something for the first time--something that will live on in the repertory but was created for you. That adds some value to the concert-going experience. And from a larger perspective . . . it adds vitality to the field.

“I’d like the Barclay to do more and more [commissions],” he said, “to become a creative organization as opposed to a fill-the-seats, dollars-and-cents kind of organization.”

Of course, doing so sometimes requires a degree of blind faith. Rumor has it that some explorers’ ships sailed right off the edge of the sea. Rankin had yet to see even a rehearsal of “Abrazo.”

“There are situations where you can track a work in progress,” he said, but this wasn’t one of them. “In Tania’s case, she spent the summer in Spain and the winter in Japan, and she’s just come into town.

“It’s a risk.”

* La Tania Flamenco Ensemble performs at Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, 8 p.m. tonight through Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. $22-$26. (714) 854-4646.