For dance fans in New York, the madness this March has been the flood of flamenco. After the four-day Festival Ay! Mas Flamenco at Symphony Space at the start of the month, three weeks of Flamenco Festival New York followed, bigger than ever. Productions at City Center and Carnegie Hall were augmented by a series of intimate shows at Joe’s Pub. As soon as those ended, on Saturday, the beloved local troupe Noche Flamenca moved right in to Joe’s Pub to extend the madness for another week.
The final presentation at City Center was by Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía. Now directed by Rafaela Carrasco, this is a fairly large ensemble of a dozen dancers, which means it can offer group flamenco as well as solos and duets. Its program, “Images: 20 Years,” consists of five new works, performed mostly to live music, each borrowing a signature scenic element from an earlier work in the company’s two-decade history.
These works might be best categorized as “numbers,” in the Broadway or floor-show sense. They involved props and stock situations: hand-held lanterns for a moonlit routine, suitcases for one about travel. The dancers entered and exited; they assembled in one formation or another. Occasionally came a stirring flash of multiplicity, as many people did different things at once, contributing to a complex rhythm. These numbers had a shape but were structurally weak. They lacked cumulative force, poetic resonance — qualities that transform a watchable routine into a choreographic work of art.
