Dance Review by Sarah Osterman Myers

Posted on Chicago Stage and Screen

Le Ça (The Id)—Sònia Sánchez at the MCA Stage

The MCA Stage was void of “Flame-colored” costumes and “hell-raising” clapping on Friday night. The voracious Sònia Sánchez had swallowed, tamed and reduced them to fit her minimalist needs. The result? A stripped-down, almost melancholic approach to flamenco called “Le Ça” that wrestled tradition until it recoiled into a vulnerable heap on the ground.

 Perhaps the melancholy comes from the solitary time Sánchez spent in Spain’s Catalunyan region, where she tried to discard everything but the sounds of her own feet. Having been trained in Madrid and Barcelona, Sánchez is a solid technician and knows flamenco inside and out. Yet, that she would rid herself of years of conventional training to rediscover flamenco in her own way shows great artistic curiosity, which is why Friday’s performance was something to be revered. 

After time alone in the forest, she returned to work with musicians and dancers of flamenco, jazz and contemporary forms. David Soler, composer and guitarist, joined her, as well as Miguel Angel, a powerful vocalist of the flamenco variety. Fortunately, their joint force made Le Ça into more of a collaborative effort than just a showcase of Sánchez’s individual findings. Yet, while the dance made music/voice worthwhile and vice versa, there were times during Le Ça when each part felt indulgent. Soler would get carried away with his dissonant guitar sounds and go off on tangents. Angel, while vocally robust and mighty, never quite showed his range and was stuck in a wailing loop. Sánchez displayed the most range out of the three, but still felt somewhat detached from her accompaniment. She more so played in tandem with the floor microphones that were planted to accentuate and repeat her footwork.

I sometimes wondered if the lack of cohesion was meant to be. If they were challenging the audience in the same way they were confronting tradition. At times, it was difficult to hear the guitar drone on with no melodic cause, and listen to the initially beautiful vocals get distorted by technology, and watch footwork flare up and down without a traceable trend or purpose. Yet, each artist performed with such conviction that I knew I was witnessing something special despite my visceral discomfort.

Even if I was unsure, the performers were not. They performed with such conviction and flair that each move, sound and vocal felt more important than the last. And for that, I am grateful to have been witness to their discoveries.

Le Ça is 60 minutes long and takes place February 13 and 14 at 7:30 pm and February 15 at 3 pm in the Edlis Neeson Theater, 220 East Chicago Avenue. Tickets are $28. The MCA Box Office is at 312.397.4010 or www.mcachicago.org

Tags: Sònia Sánchez, David Soler, Miguel Angel, Edlis Neeson Theater

at MCA Stage, Chicago Flamenco Festival, Sarah Osterman Myers

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