DANCE: SARA BARAS

PREVIEW BY AMELIA GROOM

Sara Baras is not only almost undisputedly hailed as Spain’s queen of flamenco, as head of her company she also directs and choreographs her shows as well as designs the costumes and lighting for them.

Arriving at the Opera House for the exclusive Australian season next month, her acclaimed Sabores (‘flavours’) was first seen at Sadler’s Wells in the 2006 edition of the venue’s annual Flamenco Festival. Since then Baras’s polished production has toured the world, topped by a record-breaking five-month run in Madrid last year.

Known for her commanding presence, she is a sleek and powerful dancer, fiercely strong but graceful and sensual. Neither an outright moderniser nor a purist, she has respected the traditions of flamenco while developing a unique and original style of the art form.

Transcending tired clichés of polka dots and frilly, flouncy dresses, her costumes push the art form into modern times. Similarly, she pares away the flowery aspects of flamenco gesture to create more streamlined movement, with the emphasis not in the hips but in the feet.

Displaying the technical brilliance of traditional flamenco with a vibrant, contemporary edge, Baras and her company of 19 dancers, singers and musicians, will set the Concert Hall stage alight with the powerful, dark, seductive and fiery passion of Southern Spain’s dance, song and music.

Sabores by Sara Baras
September 25 ’28
Concert Hall at The Sydney Opera House
Tickets: $35 – $110, 9250 7777 or www.sydneyoperahouse.com