Andrés Marín Recto y solo

“Anyone who dances and thinks ahead to what they’re about to do is more dead than alive”, said Vicente Escudero, a pioneering figure of flamenco. This assertion could have been written for Andrés Marín. Many eras apart, the forward-thinking choreographer has cultivated a profound affinity for the man who in the early 20th century connected his art form to the aesthetic avant-gardes and was the first one to dance the “siguiriya”. Recto Y Solo, which had its world premiere at Chaillot, théâtre national de la Danse, revisits the rules of male dance once laid out by Escudero in his famous “Decalogue”. In line with modern-day perspectives on gender identity, Marín deconstructs the heteropatriarchal culture of flamenco and tracks down the very essence of his predecessor’s conceptions. His performance, backed by Pedro Barragán’s inspired guitar, feeds on the experience of the body, time and space. Along the way, Marín embraces another aphorism from the master: “I prefer to dance like a careless man than an intelligent man”.  

Isabelle Calabre