Paco Peña Flamenco Dance Company, Solera Review ★★★★★

Paco Peña’s Solera returns to Sadler’s Wells two years after its premiere there having lost none of its mesmerising intensity. It’s a show for those who prefer their flamenco pure, close to its native Andalucia and unadorned by the extraneous extravagances of the outsize spectacles aimed at international audiences; judging by the delirious reaction of a packed Sadler’s Wells, there are a lot of us around…

Guitar virtuoso Paco Peña has made it his life's mission to divulge the essential qualities – the soul, if you like – of flamenco, an uncodified art form, which is handed down from generation to generation, in a process not dissimilar to the ‘solera’ of wine-making, from which he borrowed the title of this show. The wines are produced in a system that stacks oak barrels in several layers. Young wine enters the highest barrel and, given time, flows down nurturing its best qualities until what remains is a delicious wine that can only be achieved with age.

In the same way, the young generations of flamenco performers are enriched and refined by the the older generation in Paco Peña’s Flamenco Dance Company. 81-year-old Peña himself, his guitar sound as fresh and bewitching as ever, is joined by younger guitarists Dani de Morón and Rafael Montilla, with Julio Alcocer on percussion, each a virtuoso in his own right; singing, in the tradition of ‘cante jondo’ is provided by the young Iván Carpio besides Inmaculada Rivero, who brings the heft of maturity to bear on her singing.

The dancers, too, cross the generations: Angel Muñoz brings the masculine solidity, defiant stance and humour of the traditional bailaor; Adriana Bilbao with her flowing arms and fierce zapateado combines impeccable traditional training with the younger generation’s search for new ideas; and the young, elfin Brazilian Gabriel Matías proves you don’t have to be born in Andalucia or even in Spain to embody the very best qualities of flamenco. Individually they’re thrilling; together they make your heart soar.

Solera comes in two parts: the first is set in a rehearsal studio and shows the ludic aspects of flamenco, with the performers challenging each to playful displays in a kind of jamming session that confers an element of apparent spontaneity to Fernando Romero’s choreography.

After the interval there comes the stage show. The paraphernalia of the rehearsal studio has been taken away and the darkened stage is bare of props. Casual wear disposed of, the performers wear more formal, though simple, clothes.

Ensemble numbers alternate with solos that give each performer a chance to shine, the zapateado ever more intricate, arms cutting the air, hands rotating gracefully; guitars showing off their individuality and Alcocer treating us to a display of extraordinary percussion on little more than a box and a metal plate.

It went on way longer than advertised, and yet it seemed to fly by leaving us both fulfilled and yet yearning for more. Come back soon, Paco Peña.

NOTE: Memorias, a film by Ben Williams featuring Paco Pena in his hometown in Córdoba, Spain, is available on Sadler's Wells Digital Stage for free as part of the Elixir Festival (10-20 April)

--- Solera will be at Brighton Dome on 15 & 16 November 2024.