KOCHI: With her svelte body, Bettina Castaño enters the stage, accompanied by a Spanish melody. She is grace personified, stamping her feet, swaying her hips, swirling her skirt, spreading her hands, tossing her head, sharpening her eyes — she moves sensually owning the stage. Her flamenco performance enthrals the audience assembled at Kerala Art and Craft Village, Kovalam.
The Spanish danseuse’s performance along with artist Aditi Bhagwat is a fusion of flamenco and kathak. Almudena Longares is at the piano with haunting vocals supporting the strong presence of the dancers. “I am a bailaora (female flamenco dancer) in the ’50s and specialise in gypsy style,” says Bettina. The rigorous practice has kept her body and soul youthful.
“It is a healthy and sporty dance form. Our bones get stronger thanks to the foot-tapping moves. Above all, this dance heals the soul with the bewitching music. And the happiness of soul will leave you ageless,” quips Bettina, who teaches 4-year-olds to 60-year-olds while she is in her hometown, Seville in Spain — the home of flamenco.
In flamenco, she explains, the dancer is also a percussion player, and the tapping of her feet becomes music. “That is the best thing about flamenco. We are dancers as well as percussion players. Making music with your feet is very difficult than sitting and playing an instrument. My body weight is passed to my legs while doing the pulsating moves. In some segments of flamenco, you have to also play the Cajon (box-like percussion instrument). That is why flamenco is an intense dance form requiring years of practice,” she adds.
After practising the traditional flamenco repertoire since childhood, Bettina started her journey of experimentation. Blending dance forms from across the globe, including Indian classical art, she enriches her dance forte. She has already choreographed with Indian, Persian, Turkish, Egyptian, Moroccan and South American artists.
Having penned a few flamenco dance guidebooks to, she made her first fusion performance in India with chenda artist Padma Mattannoor Sankarankutty 16 years ago. “Kerala is not a new place to me, I come here often to watch other performances also. My first fusion experiment in India was in Thiruvananthapuram for Soorya Festival with Mattannoor and Thavil maestro Karuna Moorthy. Another fusion experimentation was for a dance-drama where Kathakali met flamenco on stage narrating the story of Draupadi in New Delhi in 2015. I have also worked with Hindustani music and Kathak dancers, including Aditi Bhagavat,” she says.
Bettina has a reason for her continuing tryst with Indian art forms. “I love Indian classical music and dance. Some roots of flamenco, especially in southern Spain, have similarities with Indian music. In Kathak, there is a similar tapping of the feet though music and meter are different.” For her next, Bettina plans to collaborate with Kalari.
Travels for art
Bettina frequently travels through India to watch various art forms. In Kerala, she catches Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi etc to understand these art forms and explore the possibilities for fusion. But to compose a piece connecting two distinct art forms is not an easy feat.
“Indian art compositions are rigid. For example, the Konnakol has its own mathematics and strict meters. Flamenco excels in dancers’ intuition and improvisation. So, I have to learn the rigid structures, grammar, and compositions of Indian classical forms to induce it in my performance,” she says.
With her fusion performances, she is introducing flamenco to a larger crowd. “I received a request from a Kathakali dancer to learn flamenco after my performance at the Craft Village. Though my studio is in Spain, I have students even in Mumbai, whom I visit often. I want to spread the beauty of flamenco to Kerala audiences too. I have talked to the authorities of the KACV about it,” Bettina says.
What is Flamenco?
Flamenco is an art form based on folklore music traditions of southern Spain, especially song, dance, and instrumental (mostly guitar) music of the Andalusian Roma community. UNESCO recently recognised it as part of the World’s Intangible Cultural Heritage, a complex art form incorporating poetry, singing (cante), guitar playing (toque), dance (baile), polyrhythmic hand-clapping (palmas), and finger snapping (pitos). The male dancer is bailaor and the female is bailaora.
The dancers along with the singer (cantaor) narrate the stories of daily life that reflect the experiences of an outcast subculture within predominantly white, Christian Spain. It is believed that the flamenco genre emerged at the end of the 18th century in cities and agrarian towns of Baja Andalusia. It often features the call and response involving hand clapping, foot stomping, and audiences’ encouraging shouts. The origin of the term “flamenco” is unknown, but believed to be shaped by musicians and performers in the Caribbean, Latin America, and Europe.
Not her first rodeo
Having penned a few flamenco dance guidebooks to her credit, she made her first fusion performance in India with chenda artist Padma Mattannoor Sankarankutty 16 years ago.