Ochre House’s annual event, a narrative evincing the flamenco experience, is nothing short of electrifying. Reviving last year’s success, Picasso: Matador de Malaga explores the tumultuous journey of Pablo Picasso, as he wrestled with God, wives, sexuality, and his obsessive need to make leaps in his career as an artist. Beginning with a visit from David Duncan, a photographer hand-picked by Picasso to catalog his work, we are privy to a conversation between he and Jacqueline Roque, his last wife and widow. Their discussion is at once enigmatic, avid and flirtatious. A funereal ceremony ensues, with drums, dirges and all participants draped in nearly opaque black veils. After that, we witness intense brawls and painful estrangements between Picasso and his lovers and wives. His rapacious taste for sensual stimulation: eating, love-making, painting, wandering, celebration.
I confess I am a mere neophyte to the world of dance, and certainly the audacity, raw desire, defiance and grief that is Flamenco. Choreographed by Antonio Arrebola and Delilah Buitron Arrebola, Picasso: Matador de Malaga is overwhelming, with images of bullfighting, seduction, hunger, catastrophe, pain and primal delight. No one prepared me for heels hammering like rapid-fire heartbeats, the sweat, the gyrations, the sculpture-like poses, the never-ending mournful songs, extravagant in their wailing, as if beyond consolation. The dancers are fluid, yet poised, consumed, yet detached, reserved, yet implacable. These wordless, narrative performances pull. You may have no desire to participate, but the attraction is undeniable. Like gravity (or fighting it) or tides, or moondrag, or the gorgeous scent of spring flowers, broken open, the tug is intoxicating. The initial strangeness takes over like incantation. You can’t look away.
I cannot imagine how much rehearsal it took to achieve this kind of precision, this frantic, equine pounding so exquisite and spectacular. The rhythm, the imperative invitation, the authenticity take you to a realm beyond this earth. You can just feel the characters aching to snap their mortal chains. Kudos to The 2018 Dallas Flamenco Festival, writer/director Matthew Posey, Antonio and Delilah, the cast (Antonio Arrebola, Delilah Arrebola, Alfonso Cid, Calvin Hazen, Danielle Bondurant, Stephanie Jasso, Frida Espinosa-Müller, Christopher Sykes, & William Acker ) and musicians: Alfonso Cid and Calvin Hazen, for bringing this reckless, remarkable show to the boards.
Ochre House and The 2018 Dallas Flamenco Festival present: Picasso: Matador de Malaga playing June 20th-June 30th, 2018. Wednesdays through Saturdays. 825 Exposition Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75226. 214-826-6273. www.ochrehousetheater.org