I have on hand an inventory of the items she danced with. the money this Friday at the Esch TheatreWith her feet, toes and heels. With her arms. With her hands—one might add: with all ten fingers. With her shoulders. With her hips. With her pelvis. With her spine. With her face. With her bun. With her jacket. With her skirt. With the fringe of her dress… What didn't she dance with? Fuensanta in this Luxembourg scenario?
The woman from Granada is a tireless dancing machine, yes, with her whole body and with everything at hand: everything serves her to tell a story, to transmit. It had been fifteen years since she had returned to the aforementioned coliseum, and in fact she was remembered as the first artist to open the doors of this space for the Festival Flamenco of EschThe event thus had something of a reunion with the local fans, as evidenced by the large audience that almost filled the auditorium; but there were also quite a few young people, who due to their age could hardly have attended that debut, ready to be swept away by the dance of one of the greats of the scene jondo figure.
On the other hand, the show that Fuensanta La Moneta presented in Esch was no ordinary production. It was LinksThe work, which premiered in Torrox and was presented at the Jerez Festival in 2024, has, for reasons difficult to pinpoint, not achieved the success that was predicted. Its foundation is none other than the music of the Madrid-born composer. Maurice Sotelo, the more flamenco of contemporary composers, or the most contemporary of composers flamencoYes, as evidenced by her collaboration with people like Enrique Morente, Marina Heredia, Juan Manuel Cañizares, Carmen Linares, Miguel Poveda, Esperanza Fernández… Or Moneta herself.
There is a dance born from a love of the body, and another that springs from a love of music. On this occasion, Fuensanta leans toward the latter. Despite the enormous expressive power she displays, there is an intense effort of listening at work. She doesn't bring any accompanists to the dance, but rather places her dance at the service of the score, not as an exercise in subordination, far from it, but as a true interpretation, in the fullest sense of the word.
"Fuensanta capped off her performance with tientos and tangos, in which she opened wide the range of her resources and ended up bringing the audience to their feet and applauding in unison. And La Moneta, after demonstrating for a long hour that she can be both classic and modern, was once again a prophet in Europe, fifteen years later."
Thus, the artist and her team develop what they call a flamenco suite, starting with a look at Alosno, with the toná of the mice followed by the mythological seguiriyas, a difficult beginning, with sounds that are not entirely familiar, especially with regard to the winds, atmospheric percussion and a rather somber general tone.
But it will be the dancer herself, with absolute control of her dance attributes, who will create spaces and illuminate the stage, sometimes requiring only a simple twist of the wrist or a slight but striking movement of the head. The synchronization of her body with the rhythm is astonishing, as is especially evident in the soleares she performs alone with the understated and steady percussion of Carlos MerinoAll the musicians will have their moment to shine, from the Mediterranean-flavored clarinet of Chen Alevi to the guitar of Antonio González, who remained discreet for a good part of the repertoire, but who also had his solo, emotional, calm.
After this display of exquisite skill, Fuensanta returned to the stage to cap off her performance with tientos and tangos, in which she unleashed the full range of her repertoire, ultimately bringing the audience to its feet in unanimous applause—the highest accolade Luxembourgers bestow upon an artist. And La Moneta, after demonstrating for over an hour that she can be both classical and modern, once again proved herself a prophet in Europe, fifteen years later.
Credits
Links, from Fuensanta La Moneta
Festival Flamenco from Esch (Luxembourg)
Esch Theatre
May 22th 2026
Fuensanta La Moneta, dance
Sergio El Colorao, cante
Antonio González, guitar
Juan Jiménez, saxophone
Chen Halevi, clarinet
Carlos Merino, percussion
