Cajasol He launched his program last night Flamenco Apart with a top-notch male quartet: guitar cante And double the dancing. Both Alberto Selles , the Ivan OrellanaBorn in the province of Cádiz in the last decade of the past century, they have gone from being promising talents to becoming two true stars of the sport. flamenco figure.
Amen in the Ballet Flamenco AndalusiaSellés' work with Estevez and Paños (Confluence, Experimental altarpiece…) has been as crucial as his participation in the Dead of Love de Manuel Linan, great choreographers and directors who have enriched it, and those who have undoubtedly enriched it.
Both he and Iván Orellana (lately in the ranks of the companies of Ursula Lopez and david coria(among others) are two magnificent flamenco dancers seeking their own space and the opportunity to express their own ideas and feelings. And that is precisely what they have done in this work with such an unusual title.
The show begins with a few Holy Week scenes, including drums, a saeta in the style of seguiriyas, and the march. Bitterness touched by Anguita and sung by the dancers. It's clear that the freedom in approaching the work has been absolute. That's why Iván then dances in a long blue dress and enjoys himself immensely, letting his skirt billow and billow in his numerous turns.
However, the evening starts to heat up when Manuel Pajares, remembering the songs of Juanaca, sings Buy this frock coat from me… and Sellés, great-grandson of the great AurelioHe momentarily forgets the speed and power that characterize him and stops to mark with deliberation, moving his wrists, reminding us what he is. pellizco and the grace of Cadiz.
"A beautiful milonga once again pitted the athletic bodies of the two dancers against each other, who again displayed their precision, their great technique and their expressiveness in a scene full of tension, made of union and separations."
We don't quite understand how he went from singing cantiñas to singing incense, but we enjoyed it nonetheless. He sets himself the limit of not going beyond the meter of distance that separates the other three members of the quartet (the singer and guitarist in chairs facing each other and Orellana on the floor) and there he demonstrates how, above his technique, are his art and his love for traditional dance.
Then, both of them will show their great versatility by going from one rhythm to another, even with passages in unison and saying poetic texts that are almost unintelligible due to sound problems and because they do not vocalize. What's with the flamenco dancers' obsession with talking... even though they're not actors?
What they do well is sing. Sellés, as on other occasions, dances while singing a cuplé more full of bitterness than love, and he does it with mastery and feeling, as does Orellana who, in the final stretch of the show, bursts in dressed in drag, with a wig and a golden evening gown, to sing of heartbreak with a bolero that reminds us of Almodóvar's work. Far heels.
After some wonderfully sung fandangos, accompanied by himself on the guitar, by a Pajares that crescendoed from the malagueña, a beautiful milonga once again pitted the athletic bodies of the two dancers against each other, who again showed their precision, their great technique and their expressiveness in a scene full of tension, made of union and separations.
Apart from a few microphone issues and a transition that dragged on, The show flowed smoothly, very polished from a formal point of viewAs for the content, the direction and dramaturgy are almost entirely absent. The mix of styles and the choice of numbers are baffling. But, as we've said, both are extraordinary and versatile flamenco dancers.
Perhaps, to find meaning in the work, one must delve deeper into the title: Deuteronomy 5: 8-10The fifth and final book of the Torah (the Pentateuch for Christians) in the Bible. In verses 5-8 it says: “…You shall not worship images… You shall not bow down to any idol to worship it in any way, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.” There you have it.
Credits
Deuteronomy 5: 8-19, by Alberto Sellés & Iván Orellana
Cycle Flamenco Apart
Cajasol Foundation Theatre, Seville
May 11th 2026
Dance: Alberto Sellés & Iván Orellana
Cante: Manuel Pajares
Guitar: Juan Anguita
Text: Rosalia Gomez
