Flamenco Fiesta, Pegasus Theatre

1:45pm Wednesday 14th November 2007

Amarita Vargas (pictured) has been running her Oxford Flamenco Academy for seven years now, and in the first half of her Flamenco Fiesta we saw a display by the best of her pupils, and evidence that the exotic dance and music of the Andalucian gypsies has taken root firmly in Oxford.

By my count, a total of 16 women and one man - or possibly a slim woman dressed as a man, since I couldn't find a man credited here - took us through an atmospheric selection of dances from the opening Sevillanas and the slow and moody Tientos, to the exuberant clapping and stamping of the Alegrias and the final calm of the short Pregon, a meditative salute and farewell, with the cast slowly raising their arms in unison. All this was well done, but perhaps, in an event called a fiesta, there should be more liveliness in the entries and exits, with the dancers eagerly running on, meeting and chatting in smaller groups before beginning their dances. A touch more excitement and theatricality is what's needed here.

Excitement is what we got in the second part, with professional performers led by Amarita herself. Her opening solo, Solea, a soulful jondo', saw her wearing her Batta de Cola, a heavy black and red dress with a long, rich train which has to be manipulated with the leg as part of the dance. It's the first time such a dress has been worn on the stage in Oxford. Years of training in Spain were on view here in a beautifully executed piece in which the great train leapt and danced as if on its own, to the accompaniment of Amarita's gracefully swirling arms and stamping feet. She then took part in the rest of the dances, together with Annika Strandberg, Rowena Ritchie and Oliver Giffin - apart from Giffin's impressive solo in the Alegrias.

Flamenco is a music-based art, and the evening was given an added sparkle by the fine guitar-playing of Tony Tonks and Angus Cruickshank - English and Scottish by name, flamenco artists by nature - and by the singing of Jasmine Villalobos and Fernando Pellon.

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