Abriendo Caminos

Ùrsula López and Cristian Lozano

Featuring:
Ùrsula López, dancer/choreographer
Cristian Lozano, dancer
Vicente Gelo, vocals
Tino van der Sman, guitar
Raul Dominguez Soto, percussion

The Embassy of Spain in the Philippines and Instituto Cervantes, Manila, in collaboration with the One Meralco Foundation and Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria, presented Abriendo Caminos, a flamenco show by the Ùrsula López Flamenco Company at the Meralco Theater.

The show featured dancers, Ùrsula López and Cristian Lozano accompanied by a trio of musicians that included vocalist Vicente Gelo, guitarist Tino van der Sman and percussionist Raul Dominguez Soto. The group performed different flamenco styles that left the audience mesmerized. Cristian Lozano’s attempt at a sextuple pirouette and Ùrsula López’s dancing with a shawl were among my personal highlights of the evening. It was not difficult to see how physically taxing flamenco dancing is especially when the audience could see the sweat spraying every time the two do their quick and tight turns. 

I wish that there was a souvenir program made available to the audience since there were some songs that I would’ve loved to take note of. The only piece of music that I knew from the entire show was Isaac Albeniz’ Asturias which Tino van der Sman played while Cristian Lozano danced. If I remember it correctly, this was when Cristian attempted the sextuple pirouette and only came out half a rotation short of completing it cleanly. But it was still impressive feat and that number of rotations is very rarely attempted even in other dance forms.

Vicente Gelo, Tino van der Sman and Raul Dominguez Soto

One of my discoveries during the performance was a strange looking percussion instrument that was used by Raul Dominguez Soto. I learned from him afterwards that this instrument that got my attention was the Udu, an African clay drum that gave an unusual color and texture to the music. The singing style in flamenco music is totally different from the typical mainstream pop heard on the radio nowadays. Vicente Gelo nonetheless showed a wide vocal range that made me think about the chants heard in here during the Lenten season. Throughout the show, I was able to bathe in the Phrygian mode that it became hard for me to recall and sing out a normal major scale afterwards.

After the show, a cocktail reception was held at the lobby and I found myself once again hanging out with the Italians. Ùrsula López and Cristian Lozano went out to meet the audience and to receive their warm congratulations. It was only later on that the three musicians went out and of course, I always take the opportunity to talk to them. But it proved to be very difficult since most of them didn’t speak English and my Spanish is almost nonexistent. Thankfully, the company’s manager, Virginia Cortés Gardyn, was very helpful and did some interpreting for me.