It's all the rage now. Bringing several artists together on stage, shaking the cocktail shaker, and whatever comes out seems to please. Because sometimes one plus one doesn't equal two. Besides, in the flamenco Math doesn't usually work. They met at the timbers of the theater of the Cajasol Foundation within its traditional Thursday Flamencos From Seville, the magnificent pianist from Utrera Andres Barrios, now in the news for being nominated for the Grammy, with the dancer flamenco the yyo.
Ivories are not new in the discourse of the jondo and blending them with the dance is a good idea. But more than that was missing, because the night unfolded as if we were watching two recitals in parallel with few honorable encounters, interesting musically and aesthetically. The interventions at the cante de Jose del Calli were fair and timely, providing warmth and substance through their throats filled with broken moans. The percussion, without detracting from the correct execution of Juan Amaya to the box, was almost always unnecessary, sometimes because it muddied the sound of feet, other times because it was exaggerated, without delving into the incontinence in Juan's fussing, inappropriate in most of the arrope. That said, they put together a show that moved between the commercial and the flamenco, of those who enter with Vaseline in any programming, suitable for all audiences, whether knowledgeable or not. One of those proposals that at least pleases and entertains. Those who were sensible had to pick out specific moments to justify their entry if they came looking for dirty brawls, which there were, too.
The percussion broke the silence. El Calli's martinete preluded the exchange of glances between the pianist and the dancer. They took their places, and the lament of the seguiriya brought El Yiyo to the stage. He was slender, with an enviable build, and especially hypnotic when he raised his arms without ostentation with his feet. The image counts. Because although he is a dancer with many qualities, He also attracts attention with his racial gesture, long hair, dark complexion and his well-sculpted body.Yiyo is a totem of gypsy dance, brimming with strength in his abs, more seasoned in his choreography, and devoid of artificial poses. He dances naturally and spontaneously, seemingly free of nerves and worries about showing off. But despite his enjoyment, he frequently resorts to the display of applause, when his dancing doesn't really need it: it's worth it. A legacy of the tablao.
"Yiyo is a totem of gypsy culture, brimming with strength in his core, more seasoned in his choreography, and devoid of artificial poses. He dances naturally and spontaneously, seemingly devoid of nerves or worries about showing off."
Barrios accompanied him from the aplomb of the low octaves to reaching into the belly of the piano to deafen the bass. Or veering into jazz territory, fused with the palate and the darkness of the seguiriya.
Andrés played a renewal of the tarara and he flirted, singing choruses in front of the microphone two or three times a night, making the audience sing along, finding complicity in the cheerful songs.
The passages he created with the 88 keys demonstrated his creativity and absolute mastery of piano technique and sensitivity. But in the pieces in which El Yiyo danced alone to the beat of the palmas and the cajón, he gracefully performed his patás in the soleá por bulerías, the farruca—here with the extraordinary lullaby of the piano—and the bulerías. Aside from the showy re-planning, they wowed the audience and occasionally pinched this critic. It's a shame he so often forgot his arm movements, because he excelled at them and excelled at it. He danced without unnecessary fuss, knowing how to pause, playing with the timing, and testing himself in the taste of trapío cuts.
Some airs in tangos, some lyrics in Colombian songs by Andrés and two encores, the last one in bulerías, already unleashed with the ovations of the audience, excited and happy, closed the theater with a pleasant and unpolished proposal in which Andrés captivated me again and El Yiyo stole my gaze, which will continue to be seen in his inspiring progression..
Credits
Andrés Barrios and El Yiyo
Thursday Flamencos of Cajasol
Chicarreros Room of the Cajasol Foundation in Seville
2th October 2025
Piano: Andrés Barrios
Dance: The Yiyo
Cante: José del Calli
Percussion: Juan Amaya
