A toná tore through the air, summoning the seguiriyas lament. The guitar of The Carqui announced the tone of the first groan. Javi Rivera y Juan Villar Jr. The ducats were raffled off, with fierce attacks from the start. And the dance began. He took to the Jerez stage of The Angel's Lair the Sevillian flamenco dancer Rafael CampalloPeople knew it. That's why the hall was packed to overflowing into the street. Just as the cheers erupted with every bold move and gesture from Rafael, with each of the unique little details that proved one can be both serious and playful at the same time. jondo but picante, taking the elegance of swagger to the highest level.
The precision of her heels did not obscure a clipped and stubborn arm movement, strong in the painful attacks, but round when he was acclaimed by the canteShe didn't distort her torso, nor did she search for poses in artificial catalogs. Everything is hers and natural. However much her casual style reminds me of the ways of The CricketRafael dances with a more hieratic air. And he breaks the rigidity by subtly swaying his hips, charming and sensual. Not in the seguiriya, of course. Because after the guitar solo in the farruca style, brimming with clean tremolos and clear, double-time strumming, came the solemnity of the taranto, orthodox and canonical, with its emphasis on the promenades, and its transition to the tangos, as usual, where Rafael is a true master and a doctor of seduction. His dance sprinkled grace, sometimes when he gathered his jacket, sometimes when he fluttered the rhythms with his hands, like someone throwing handfuls of salt.
"Campallo danced as he pleased. As he knows how, winning people over with a sway of his hips and heels, crossing his jacket, with flourishes that don't seek applause... Because he can, because he knows how, and because he wants to."
I liked Rivera in the soleá por bulerías, rocking the thirds of La Serneta and the cante of the maid María Peña, the one we only hear from Ines Bacán: And you act like you know everythingAnd Campallo's return through alegrías, from the first kick of the chair, to the silence, the pristine brush, and the bulería of Cai, where I already felt like devouring him, taking little bites out of his heels and stealing his jacket, with which he drew spontaneous flourishes and calls, with plenty of age and basketfuls of substance. There was a beautiful nod from El Carqui's guitar to that of John Campallo and his folk music, recreating one of his most famous falsetas.
A little more flamenco and that was it. Campallo danced however he pleased. The way he knows how, winning people over with a sway of his hips and heels, crossing his jacket, with flourishes that don't seek applause… Because he can, because he knows how, and because he wants to.
Credits
Rafael Campallo dance recital
XV Jerez Off Festival of La Guarida del Ángel
Jerez de la Frontera (Cadiz)
February 27th 2026
Dance: Rafael Campallo
CanteJavi Rivera and Juan Villar Jr.
Guitar: Daniel Mejía El Carqui
