Isabel Bayon’s sensuous flamenco

“Caprichos del Tiempo” (Whims of Time), the flamenco choreographed and danced by Spanish international awardee Isabel Bayon, was modern and contemporary appearing spontaneously improvised on the spot.

Without castanets, shawls or fans, Bayon magnetized, her movements sinuous and sensuous, her arms in soft or sharp angles, her turns swift, her zapateados and taconeos thunderous.  Each abrupt pause especially when it ended a dance, tantalized and arrested attention.

 The initial dance number was accompanied by unseen percussions; later, singers Miguel Angel Sotto (“Landro”) and Juan Rivera, guitarists Jesus Torres and Juan Requena, and percussionist Jose Carrasco performed, their hand-clapping, finger-snapping, foot-stamping enhancing those of the aristocratic-faced, slim-as-a-reed ballerina as she went through her paces.

Oddly enough, flamenco singers deliberately ruin their voices so they can combine as they did that night – wailing, screeching, “screaming” with occasional melodious singing.

In the third dance, Bayon and the five men, all attired in black against black curtains, approached the front edge of the stage, their collective rhythmic beats steadily increasing in tempo and volume, and reaching such an overwhelming, deafening climax that frenzied applause erupted!

In the finale, Bayon in a pink gown with a long, voluminous cola (tail) demonstrated how her fast, deft manipulation of it became a fascinatingly integral part of the dance.  Bayon rapidly turned and twirled encircled by her consorts, Landro briefly dancing with her.  When the group spiritedly exited, near pandemonium ensued offstage.

Summing up, Bayon’s flamenco expressed the spirit of Spain – audacious, adamant, fiery, arrogant, defiant but also noble and compassionate.

The concert, presented by the Spanish Embassy at the Meralco Theater, was organized by Ariana Valladares of its cultural section.