From the first moments of their performance Friday night at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts, the dancers of Compania Flamenca Jose Porcel faced a challenge. The sound system wasn’t functioning properly, and the enticing music from the live band behind the troupe was marred by screeches of audio feedback.
The lousy situation didn’t mask that the Madrid-based dancers are sharp and passionate, but it did seem to throttle their focus. It certainly put the audience on edge, preventing it from becoming truly rapt by the performance.
But eventually the artists got into a groove, and the crowd fell under their spell. Though their full-company opening and closing numbers were intended to be the big showstoppers, it was the small group dances that were most appealing and effective. In “Dress With a Train,” the female dancers swirled their ruffled gowns while cutting clear shapes with their elbows and maintaining low, knowing gazes. In “Passion,” a love triangle went sour and left all the players achingly lonely in the end.
The company’s artist director, Jose Porcel, performed two solos, one in the first act and one after intermission. The first, “The Tribute,” didn’t congeal into anything magical or meaningful: His pirouettes were off-kilter, and his prowls around stage lacked the pantherlike quality that one wants from a flamenco dancer. But he was emphatically better in the second act. His footwork was blistering — a rapid-fire barrage of heel digs and clicks neatly packaged into complex rhythmic phrases.
Porcel’s sense of bravado seemed more authentic this time around, too. His idea of getting into character in the first solo seemed to mostly consist of making faces and swishing his long hair. But in the second, “Gypsy Fire,” a bold masculinity seemed to emanate from within.
— Sarah Halzack
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