Camden Fringe 2024
Flamenco-Electro
Mike Rizk
Genre: Contemporary, Dance, Experimental, Live Music, World Music
Venue: The Courtyard
Festival: Camden Fringe
Low Down
Sidney based Spanish guitarist Mike Rizk teamed up with two Australian musicians and three London based artists to showcase traditional flamenco and it’s more recent foray into other musical styles. The result is an entertaining as well as educational evening.
Review
The show starts ordinary enough with one guitar accompanying a solo flamenco dancer. She walks through the audience seated on ranked chairs. On the bottom step she halts to perform footwork using the hollowness of the construction as a sound box. When she moves onto the stage she takes her beautifully embroidered shawl and starts to dance. Her face is intense and her careful movements convey a strong intention. The shawl alternates between being her dance partner and an extension of her being. The soleá goes down well with the audience, who receive this jondo dance with enthusiastic applause.
At the end she sits down, smiling for the first time. Mike Rizk, the guitarist introduces himself and his fellow Sydney based musicians. To Mike’s right is Peter Micos who doubles on guitar and plays percussion. Next to Peter on a tall stool behind a keyboard sits Michael Howett, who is responsible for electronica. On Mike’s left sit three ladies, who are all London based. First up is Anna Diamond a singer-composer. Then there is Alexea Norman, a US trained contemporary dancer. Finally, Mike introduces Angela Alonso, who opened the show.
Mike tells us a bit about the history of flamenco, it’s origins and development and what movements currently exist in Flamenco apart from the traditional styles. Over the next hour Mike and his fellow performers guide us through this history with actual examples. We have performances of traditional and Gipsy King style music, but are also introduced to several of Flamenco-Electro own tunes in the style of Flamenco House.
There is a Rumba with some electronic by Michael, that follows the Flamenco guitar and certainly adds rather than distracts. This is followed by an Allegria to which Alexea has choreographed a very expressive contemporary dance routine with elements from various other modern dance styles. It is incredibly lyrical and very intense. When Angela takes the stage again in gold sequinned shoes matching the gold trim of her otherwise black Flamenco outfit, she brings castanets. Peter joins Mike on guitar for this number and Angela alone provides the percussion with her castanets.
The next number is contemporary and offers beats and flamenco guitar, however the beats seem to take priority. Alexea again performs a very energetic choreography. Despite the style of music, Alexea’s strong expressive movements give this number a jondo feel. She uses the floor a lot to create new interesting shapes and barely breaks into a sweat despite her physical exertions.
This is followed by Angela, this time using her fan as a prop. She is accompanied by two guitars and electronically produced percussion. It is an interesting combination and a pleasure to see how Angela fits traditional moves to this music.
We have now reached Flamenco-House in the program and we hear from Anna Diamond for the first time. She sings the solo on a song called Carpe Diem. For their next tune Michael is on the vocals and Angela joins in with the beat on her castanets. Insomnio allows Alexa again to proof her skills. In this number small, exact executed gestures alternate with big lyrical movements. In Enchanted the focus is very much on Michael and his use of samples and drum machine, only to move back to Mike’s guitar for Bruise Me. Alexea and Angela dance a duet to this tune. They alternate between call and response sections and synchronisation. The band finished with a new song that is still unnamed. Peter hadn’t even played it yet with the others. Mike suggests to the ladies they should improvise. Alexea leaves the stage to Anna for an impromptu dance while Angela supports the performance with castanets from the side.
Overall an exciting evening. The art form Flamenco-House was new to me and certainly turned out differently from what I expected. I was pleasantly surprised to see a contemporary dancer as well as a flamenco dancer in this programme. I very much enjoyed them together and would have loved to see more Pas de Deux. Maybe Anna could have been used more, although I really enjoyed listening to Michael sing
