By cultivating the avant-garde for so many years, the dance of Andres Marin It becomes a classic, a traditional reference, a constant stimulant for the paradigm of what jondoIt seems paradoxical, but it is the feeling that comes over me when any of his works leaves me stunned and glued to my chair. With Matarife/Paradise It already caused mixed feelings in the last one biennial of Flamenco of Sevilla. And the half capacity of the Pedro Perez Fernandez Municipal Theatre from the town of Los Palacios y Villafranca (Seville) was speechless in front of this dance spectacle flamenco which did not give rise to indifference.
Second day of the Mistela FestivalAndrés Marín and Ana Morales They shook closed minds and even the most open ones with a unique proposal, brilliant from a scenic point of view and, to say the least, disturbing, incisive, provocative and original.
Those looking for stale dancing came to the wrong venue. They may have even found it unpleasant. Because Andrés Marín and Ana Morales deconstructed the codes by rewriting the forms. It wasn't a comfortable show, because it stirred from creative freedom and thought. Like dreamlike lashes, with no apparent connection, they intertwined scenes of the pagan and earthly with religion or Holy Week in Seville. The dismemberment of a lamb, skillfully butchered by the singer, was disconcerting and captivating. Antonio Campos –magnificent to cante, on flamenco and electric guitar and in the performance - and whose pieces of flesh are thrown to the ground for the dancers to pick up with their teeth in a ceremony of carnal sensuality, in every sense. They sin with premeditation and malice, by choice, knowing that They will be expelled from the paradise of canons flamencoand of the politically correct according to the ethics and aesthetics of the most tacky and classic Sevillianism. But they do so in search of their own Eden, disdaining Christian salvation without causing offense, but rather stepping aside to create their own cardboard church in which to enter on all fours and almost naked, with nothing more than the desire and conviction that another life, other conceptions and another paradise are possible, even if they go against the current. Two employees of El Paraíso Meats With their backs to the audience, they watched the recollection. All this after kissing each other with golden hoods and being 'crucified' with sunglasses on a gold-leaf platform and with the I will pray by Silvio, a rocker and good brotherhood member from Seville, playing in the background.
"Andrés Marín and Ana Morales shook even the most closed minds with a unique, brilliant performance, and, to say the least, disturbing, incisive, provocative, and original."
On the left, a sort of simulated church organ with hanging wax flowers and a table for the slaughterer. Percussion is behind it. In the center, a confessional that later transforms into a crucifixion platform, with flowers on either side. Andrés Marín begins the work at the front of the stage, preparing for the sacrifice, topless and dancing in his own way. Ana Morales, with long braids, wears a tight-fitting costume in tights. Armed with La Macarena, with their feathered helmets playing the bugles, incense on the stage… Costume changes resembling the robes of a Virgin and Jesus of Nazareth. She in white with ruffles, and he in a purple tunic covered with laminated holy cards of Christ, with whom he danced romances to the beat of bulería and soleá. Previously, the molten metals sounded in Campos's throat or the soleá in Marín's nut, lying on the floor. Ana received several wafers of the consecrated host like someone craving her dose of lust and pleasure, sometimes perched on a chair on the altar, other times pressed against Andrés's body. They danced sevillanas in a game of seduction. Ana also danced tientos... and a thousand other details that shaped this Dantesque work, due to the clear allusions to The Divine Comedy, in which they distill ancient dyes to launch them reformulated to contemporary times.
Andrés dances, sings, and performs with strokes of genius. Ana is overwhelming, feminine, and sensual, showing off her talents as a dancer and also excelling in her acting. The work is undoubtedly persuasive and captivating, conceived and choreographed with care and attention, filled with winks, metaphors, and details that paint it as a sublime and quality piece. If you search flamenco There is, but in a different way. Perhaps it fits better in a dance festival than in La Mistela, but this festival thus joins the new concepts of the genre, with courage and daring, betting on showing new worlds to the courtiers. I also prefer other things. Comparisons are odious. But the day before I enjoyed myself there like a dwarf. Vertebrate de Juan Thomas de la Molia or the joy of dancing for dancing's sake. He received the Venencia. And the week before Adela Campallo between the walls of the Peña Flamenca Torres Macarena, to cite two recent examples that probably place me as a more traditional fan. Matarife/Paradise It's a real spectacle. But stopping makes me dizzy. I stay at the parties, the peñas and the flamenco aged. I enjoy it more there. And you?
Credits
Matarife/Paradise, by Andrés Marín and Ana Morales
Festival Flamenco The Mistela, Los Palacios, Seville
Pedro Perez Fernandez Municipal Theatre
11th October 2025
Dance: Andrés Marín and Ana Morales
Cante and guitar: Antonio Campos
