She is one of the most acclaimed contemporary flamenco dancers: Irene Olivares will be performing at the La Cuadra salon at Mas-d’Agenais, on Friday January 19, 2024 at 8 p.m. A first in Lot-et-Garonne, and even in France for years, underlines Laure Charbonneau, correspondent for Le Républicain and organizer of the evening, and whose family is originally from Spain.
A flamenco Tablao at the Mas? “A bit of a crazy bet”
“I had the chance to meet Irene Olivares several times in Andalusia and the South-West, particularly because she gives lessons once a month in Bordeaux,” she explains. “But organizing a Tablao at Mas-d’Agenais is a slightly crazy bet, driven by love, passion for flamenco, and above all by the desire to introduce Irene, Santiago and Quini to the Lot-et-Garonnais public . »
Irene Olivares will in fact be accompanied by guitarist Santiago Moreno, a pillar of flamenco music in Jerez, one of the cradles of the discipline. And on vocals: Quini de Jerez with her passionate, soft and powerful voice which instantly takes you to the heart of her gypsy roots.
Improvise dance from singing
Together, they will therefore perform a Tablao, much more than a simple dance show, as Irene Olivares explains to the Republican: “Despite the hours of work and sacrifice that flamenco requires, a Tablao leaves complete room for improvisation . It’s a concept that I love, because I have to listen to the song and let myself be carried away. It is the motto: Cantame, tocame que yo bailo (sing to me, touch me and I will dance) in all its splendor. »
“It’s very rare to see all three of them on stage, even at home in Jerez,” adds Laure Charbonneau. “So it’s an exceptional chance to have them at the Mas! »
After seven years of giving regular classes in Bordeaux, for Irene Olivares, this first opportunity to perform for a Tablao in Lot-et-Garone could not be refused. “France, apart from the fact that it is a neighboring land, is a country where flamenco is respected, recognized and very appreciated,” she comments.
Irene Olivares, flamenco dancer
Irene Olivares and Laure Charbonneau promise an evening of January 19 full of emotions, a return to the very essence of flamenco. “This traditional art was born from a complaint, from anger, from a call for help from the people of southern Andalusia in the 18th century. I think that through flamenco, we can all identify, because it is also the expression of our feelings,” explains Irene Olivares.
Connection and osmosis with the public
Even if it is today “less visceral” and is even studied at university, flamenco continues to carry within it, according to the Spanish dancer, an emotional and vibrational charge that can speak to everyone.
In any case, this is the objective stated by the Spanish trio who come, he says, “with a lot of pleasure and the desire to feel a connection and an osmosis” with the French public.
World Heritage
Since 2016, UNESCO has designated flamenco (music, dance and song) as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity at the proposal of Andalusia, Catalonia, Murcia and Extremadura.
The Compañía Irene Olivares will also perform at the Parentis-en-Born village hall (Landes), on February 3, 2024 at 9 p.m., in the presence of Irene Olivares and Jairo Amaya for dance, Eva Del Cristo for vocals and by the same Santiago Moreno on guitar. Then she will continue on her way, towards Manchester in the United Kingdom.
This article is originally published on actu.fr
