The story – the group's story, not the plot of the play – goes back some six or seven years, when Paula Comitre, Florencia Oz y Carmen Angulo They met in the dance troupe of Born in shadow, proposal of Raphael CarrascoTime has passed, those talented and ambitious young women have grown up, developed their individual careers, and the stage brings them together again in a new Fates. The voice, the eye, the flesh, which they provided within the framework of Festival Flamenco Nimes.
The reflection on femininity brought about by modern times often involves a re-examination of ancestral myths. In this case, the creators stumbled upon the neo-pagan idea of the Triple Goddess (the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone), which was so carefully studied by [author's name/title missing]. Robert GravesAnd from there they connected with another myth, in this case Roman, such as the Fates, the mistresses of destiny; as well as with the three Graces, the daughters of Zeus who Rubens She painted with her milky skin and, as we would say in Andalusia, quite plump.
However, the viewer can enter the performance without needing to carry this theoretical baggage, and simply be carried away by the rather somber opening, in which the performers become entangled in an extremely long rope that symbolizes the thread of life. It is the starting point, with a saeta-like undertone, of a production full of symbolism and clues, but in which the powerful and virtuosic dance of these three women, accompanied by the voice of a fantastic [female singer], will also soon manifest itself. Dew Moon, a young woman from Cordoba who dared to do it all palos -from Call me Soleá de Marchena al I deny de Thomas Pavon, including round songs or cantes camperos– with taste and competence.
"A work of great lyrical and emotional charge, but also of evident flamenco, which demonstrates once again that the codes jondoThey are useful for telling many stories from many different angles."
The poetics that are characteristic of the director's productions Isidora O'Ryan This new work again reveals her penchant for understated staging, in keeping with the costumes, and rather twilight-like lighting, under which the dance movement unfolds its discourse. Personally, I prefer Comitre's more luminous side; she is one of the most magical dancers of our time, but she also handled herself wonderfully in a more tragic register, as the occasion demanded. Her stumble during the soleá, which she tumbled like a master judoka, was just an anecdote she laughed about as she left the theater.
As for her fellow dancers, they also performed admirably in the more solemn part of the repertoire, with Florencia Oz delivering a superb performance in the seguiriya. The counterpoint to this first dark and introspective section was provided by the festive finale, an exaltation of life and fertility, in which the girls shook and struck the ground with a pile of wheat stalks, scattering the blades in the air in a scene of great beauty. And they reminded us, incidentally, that life has its cycles and everything is reborn… even though the rope that binds us to it will, sooner or later, break.
Sisterhood, youth and the passage of time, inherited patterns, are some of the themes hinted at throughout a long hour of immersion in this allegorical world. In short, a work of great lyrical and emotional depth, but also of evident flamenco spirit, which demonstrates once again that the codes jondoThey are useful for telling many things from many different angles.
Credits
Fates. The voice, the eye, the fleshby Paula Comitre, Florencia Oz and Carmen Angulo
Festival Flamenco from Nîmes 2026
Odeon Theatre of Nìmes
February 15th 2026
Original idea, staging and choreography by Paula Comitre, Florencia Oz and Carmen Angulo
Musical direction, Isidora O'Ryan
Paula Comitre, Carmen Angulo and Florencia Oz, dance
Rocío Luna, special collaboration to cante
