Dynamic Flamenco From Jose Greco II Fills the House

Taking flamenco out of intimate venues, where improvisational sparks fly, and putting it into a more lyrical, less spontaneous form for larger stages tends to wring the life out of it. Except on those rare occasions when it doesn’t. Jose Greco II Flamenco Dance Company had a distinct advantage for “Gitanerias,” its sold-out concert Sunday afternoon at the Robert B. Moore Theatre at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa--Greco himself.

As the program’s sole choreographer and soloist, Greco used strategies that worked well--judicious pacing and simple but dynamic designs that read clearly in a large house. For his three female and two male dancers, this meant an emphasis on dramatic shapes, unison movements, and cool or warm lighting to signal mood changes.

The men looked best in “Solea por Bulerias,” shifting sharply between combat and friendship; the women were dynamic in “Seguirillas,” with its shawl manipulations in silhouette to tapping percussion. Onstage guitarists and singers provided sensitive accompaniment.

Amplification problems in the first act slightly marred the evocative singing of Salvador Suero and obscured much of the footwork, but adjustments made in the second act seem more hushed, allowing flamenco spirit to rise instead of being projected.

The nuanced charm and dexterity of Greco’s solos worked in both acts. Commanding without being distant or mannered, he put passion, friendliness and melancholy into the same danced moment. Fond of swift, feathery pirouettes, he often dropped out of them to one knee in a pool of light, once even reversing his spiral as if magically lifted to a standing position.

He toyed with the contrasts of soft foot trills and forceful, byzantine patterns, tossing in a balance on one toe or an unexpected scissor kick.

And in a few quiet moments, he directed his gaze very briefly upward, bringing to mind his famous father, who died in December, and to whom the concert was dedicated. A pause in the son’s poetic motion seemed a fine tribute.