‘Afanador,' flamenco reinvented, comes to Seoul

Korea Herald

29-04-2025

GS Arts Center's 'Artists' series spotlights Marcos Morau's genre-defying work
When we think of flamenco, certain images spring to mind: a dancer in a vivid, ruffled dress with skirt flying outward in a whirl of motion; sharp, dramatic arm movements and hands twisting elegantly through the air; heeled shoes striking the wooden floor in a rapid-fire rhythm of castanets.
But the Ballet Nacional de Espana's "Afanador," created in high-profile collaboration with Spanish contemporary choreographer Marcos Morau, offers a stark departure from these familiar images.
Premiered in 2023, it stands out as one of BNE's latest and most daring major productions -- flamenco rendered in stark black and white, with sweeping ensemble scenes that evoke avant-garde and high-fashion imagery. Extravagant and born from the beauty of light and shadow, it offers a highly theatrical and deliberately distorted vision of the traditional form.
"It was like encountering an entirely new world," Ruben Olmo, the artistic director of BNE, said in Spanish during a press conference on Monday at the GS Arts Center in Seoul.
"Through our collaboration with Marcos Morau, we sought to bring a new form to Spanish dance. Morau and his company, La Veronal, possess an exceptionally unique dance language. By blending their language with flamenco, we wanted to present audiences with a different universe."
Founded in 1978, BNE is Spain's national dance company dedicated to preserving and evolving the country's dance heritage, including escuela bolera, flamenco, academic, stylized and regional folk dances. Since 2019, the company has been led by Olmo, who has emphasized both honoring tradition and pushing creative boundaries.
The work draws inspiration from Colombian photographer Ruven Afanador's black-and-white photography collections "1000 Kisses" (2009) and "The Men of Flamenco" (2014), which capture dancers against the stark, searing light and deep shadows of Andalusia. In these collections, dancers often appear in avant-garde haute couture or even nude, offering a surreal, boundary-pushing vision of flamenco.
Building on Afanador's surreal imagery, Morau and BNE approached "Afanador" as a creative dialogue between photography and dance.
Onstage, some 30 dancers pose as if for a photograph in a studio-like setting. At times, they seem to become part of the picture itself; at others, the space transforms into something resembling a bullring. The dancers sculpt static or dynamic, geometric forms, moving fluidly between stillness and explosive energy.
Creative team and dancers alike acknowledged the production's challenges.
Miguel Angel Corbacho, associate director and choreographer, recalled, "We had to step outside the framework of Spanish dance as we had learned it from childhood. These were movements that didn't belong to the traditional canon. It was dynamic, energetic but demanding extreme precision at the same time."
Principal dancer Inmaculada Salomon echoed the sentiment: "It was a collision of the flamenco world and contemporary dance, and every part of the process was a challenge," she said. "The way we worked with Morau was completely different from the methods we were used to at the company. It required leaving behind the universe each of us had built. But it was an opportunity for growth -- both for the company and for us as individuals."
Among the performers is Korean dancer Youn Sou-jung, a corps de ballet member and the first Asian dancer to join BNE in 2019.
"It's my first time performing in Korea with the company. I'm thrilled to be able to perform here,' said Youn.
She described Afanador as a fresh and striking take on flamenco. "In Spanish dance, we don't usually use the neck as much, but working with Morau, I remember feeling pain from how much neck movement was involved." She added, "It's a production that requires dancers to perform ensemble pieces in very tight spaces, so we had to be very careful about breathing and coordination."
The BNE will perform "Afanador" three times, from Tuesday to Thursdat, at the GS Arts Center.
The performance is part of the newly inaugurated GS Arts Center's flagship 'Artists' series spotlighting two to three multidisciplinary creators each year for an in-depth exploration of their work.
This year, the featured artists are Spanish choreographer-director Morau and South African visual artist and theater-maker William Kentridge. 'Afanador' is one of three Morau works to be presented at the GS Arts Center this spring. The others include 'Pasionaria' (May 16-18) and "Totentanz -- Morgen ist die Frage" (also known as "Dance of Death"). Morau will visit Seoul for performances in May.