Flamenco Vivo travels to outer reaches of universe in Cosmic 'Quinto Elemento'

Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana dazzled in the world premiere of "Quinto Elemento," an evening-length work choreographed by Patricia Guerrero. (Photo by Steven Pisano)

​Flamenco Vivo Carlota Santana stands tall as the nation’s most recognized and most enduring flamenco ensembles. Why?  Their artistry – dance, music and production values – rises over all others who devote their creative lives to the savory stew of flamenco.
 
The ensemble, however, shot their status into the cosmos with its latest evening-length work “Quinto Elemento” which had its world premiere on Saturday night at the Spa Little Theater in Saratoga Springs. Choreographed by Patricia Guerreo and a musical score by Francis Gomez, the piece expressed the lure and the power of the fifth element, ether or quintessence, that fills the space in our upper atmosphere.
 
Yet the ensemble of 10 dancers and musicians – including the composer who was on guitar – drew the element’s starry fire to the stage, ingesting its mysterious properties and unleashing it to an enraptured audience.
 
The 75-minute piece began quietly with the siguiriya persuading the dancers to take center stage. Their faces panned the sky – clearly watching something float by. And then with a signal from the guitar and vocalists, the sextet of dancers went to work, united in pumping their arms and legs as if ratcheting up preparations for in incoming bomb.
 
The stage cleared for a duet with Emilio Ochando and Yoel Vargas who encircled and ultimately connected to each other with fringed shawls. Their symbiotic dealings linked two worlds and cleared the way for what was to come – a fiery awakening.
 
The light literally turned on in shattering solo from Hugo Sanchez. Meant to express the pull of gravity, this dance was a fight between soil and sky. Sanchez's feet explode in shutters that reverberated. The rhythms  were juxtaposed by his twisting in the air – his hands coiling forth in a plea for freedom. And in the height of his struggle, he stopped and reached to the stars and at that moment a blaze of light shone down on him. It was dramatic.
 
When the ensemble returned – now donning sparkly vests – they ate up the space as if they were spinning planets in a seemingly chaotic, but truly organic orbit.
 
But before it was over, another section of the seven-part dance, dressed the three women, Lorena Franco, Fanny Ara and Rebeca Tomas, in black ruffled bata de colas. In a darkened stage, the trio was swallowed by the layers of fabric, a metaphor for the power of black holes. This section's placement, near the end of the dance, however, didn't make a lot of sense to me. It seems it should proceed the turning point solo. 
 
The work ended on a bright note, the six dancers circled the stage as if they themselves were the ether or quintessence – flying above their earthly bounds. It was beautiful.
 
One more thing, the quartet of musicians – two haunting singers, Manuel Soto and Loreto de Diego, and two guitarists, Gomez and Antonio Gonzalez – drove it all expertly.
 
I would highly recommend seeing the repeat of “Quinto Elemento” at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 9. Tickets can be found at www.spac.org.