How were dancer Sergio Bernal and choreographer Ricardo Cué to know that their plans to form a new company would coincide with a global pandemic. A company based in Madrid too, one of the world's coronavirus hotspots.
The idea of a Sergio Bernal Dance Company began to form last year, and Bernal left his position as principal dancer with the Spanish National Ballet. In August during the summer festival at the Teatro Auditorio San Lorenzo de El Escorial in Madrid, the company made its debut.
Bernal has not just a choreographer in Cué, but practically a guru. He says that it was Cué who taught him that dance is about spiritual beauty and not just physical.
Beauty is that intimate, spiritual moment, that silence that greets you and embraces you. I don't intend to revolutionise anything, to do anything different… that's what the greats are for. I just want to transport the public towards what, for me, is beauty.
Of course, audiences appreciate Bernal for his physical beauty but especially for his exciting performances. Guesting with the English National Ballet in January of this year for its 70th Anniversary gala, the Arts Desk said,
The standard was set by Sergio Bernal, so tall and proud he was almost leaning backwards, fingers snapping and Cuban heels stamping to the hot and furious rhythms of Andalusia, as he whirled his scarlet cape around his beautiful Spanish head in Manuel de Falla's The Three-Cornered Hat.
Dance Tabs' critic said, “I can't imagine another dancer delivering it with such smouldering, compelling and charismatic allure,” The Times called his performance ‘scintillating' and the Guardian ‘thrilling'.
It's his mix of traditional Spanish dancing with a classical technique which gives his own performances such exhilarating variety and its something he wants to bring to his company.
I'm lucky, as far as my physique is concerned, to have the ability to use different languages of dance. I have had a certain elasticity, a physical capability, which allows me to use both ballet and flamenco, which always I have loved because I feel that it is the expression of the soul, it touches the heart. The beautiful thing is to be able to unite them both.
The debut programme in Madrid was to be on 1 October, but quarantine problems led to the opening mini-season (selling only 60% of the theatre's capacity for safety regulations) to be rescheduled to tomorrow, 29 October until 1 November at Madrid's Teatros del Canal. The varied programme is reproduced below.
SER (To Be) is his first solo project with his own choreography. A ‘dynamic and emotional' show that he will perform together with three guest dancers – including Aida Gómez – and a group of musicians.
Bernal says,
To dance the most important thing is the soul, the spirit, the heart. The technique is the work. The most important thing, and what defines us, is that we know how to take our heart in our hands and give it meaning with our steps. This is not just a show, it is the new Sergio.
SERGIO BERNAL DANCE COMPANY
Artistic Director: SERGIO BERNAL
Co-director: RICARDO CUE
SERGIO BERNAL – ALBA DUSMET – AITOR HERNÁNDEZ
Guest Artist
AÍDA GÓMEZ
SER
OBERTURA
Choreography: Sergio Bernal
Music: Coetus (Obertura)
Percussion: FlameN'co Marching
SERGIO BERNAL
SER
Choreography: Sergio Bernal – Ricardo Cue
Music: Beyonce (Bzzzz Drumline)
Musical group: FlameN'co Marching
AITOR HERNÁNDEZ – ALBA DUSMET – SERGIO BERNAL
JEALOUS
Choreography: Sergio Bernal
Music: Labrinth
Voice and piano: Anton
SERGIO BERNAL
GRIEGA
Choreography: Sergio Bernal
Music: Coetus (Gallo Rojo)
ALBA DUSMET
LIBRES
Choreography: Sergio Bernal – Aitor Hernández
Music: Antonio Vivaldi (Violin Concerto in B-flat major)
AITOR HERNÁNDEZ – SERGIO BERNAL
REFLEJO
Choreography: Aída Gómez – Sergio Bernal
Music: Ara Malikian (Yumenji's Theme)
AÍDA GÓMEZ – SERGIO BERNAL
EN MÍ
Choreography: Aitor Hernández
Music: Max Richter (Summer 2)
AITOR HERNÁNDEZ
ADALÍ
Choreography: Aída Gómez
Music: Juan Parrilla
AÍDA GÓMEZ
SOLEA X BULERÍAS
Choreography: José Manuel Álvarez
Music: Daniel Jurado
Guitar: Daniel Jurado – Singer: Roberto Lorente
SERGIO BERNAL
EL CISNE
Choreography: Ricardo Cue
Music: Camille Saint-Saëns
SERGIO BERNAL
A BAILAR
Choreography: Sergio Bernal – Ricardo Cue
Music: Stromae (Alors on Dance)
Voice: Anton
Musical group: FlameN'co Marching
SERGIO BERNAL – ALBA DUSMET – AITOR HERNÁNDEZ
Costume design: Cristina Catoya – Sergio Bernal – Gabriel Besa
Director of FlameN'co Marching: Luis Fernández
Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.
His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.
