Eva Yerbabuena
Eva Yerbabuena is one of the finest flamenco dancer/choreographers working today. Her performance at Sadler's Wells in 2002 won her the Time Out Best Performer of the Year award and she is returning as part of Flamenco Festival London in January 2005.
She talked to Rachel Bagshaw about her work.
Why is flamenco so important to you - and to Spanish culture in general?
When I first started dancing flamenco, I used to ask myself the same question. Why is flamenco so important? I always used to ask people. And I would get the same answer back that I still believe now - that it's a form, a way of life, and the culture of a people. It is still one of the most important cultural aspects of Spanish life.
There is a different element for me as well - flamenco gives me personal freedom. I step onstage and it gives me the greatest sense of freedom that I've ever had in my life. I know what really freedom feels like, only through flamenco.
Personal freedom - do you see this in other people's work?
Certainly I see other artists on stage who I think could have this personal freedom, or may have it at that specific time, but I don't know whether they know they have it or not, I don't know if they recognise it.
Is it enough just to dance flamenco and feel this freedom without having to share it with an audience?
It's not the same at all. There are three different feelings; when I am dancing alone, when I perform for a small audience or lastly, for a large audience. The feeling when I am dancing for a large audience is almost the same as when I am dancing by myself. It's hard to explain, but the audience push me on, through adrenaline, or whatever it is. But whoever I'm performing for, the important thing is that I am centred and in touch with myself.
Who has had the greatest influence on your work?
All my teachers have been very important to me. It's like the first years of a child's education - it's not necessarily important how long you spend with the teacher but what you learn from them. They are always going to leave a huge imprint on your work; teachers are probably the most important influence there can be.
Other artists, yes, definitely they have an influence on my work. Not only the way they perform, but as I have the chance to get to know them as people, just their attitudes and their way of being offstage can have a huge effect on me as well.
You work very closely with your husband, guitarist Paco Jarano. What comes first when you are making a new piece - the music or the choreography?
Everything! It can be the music first, it can be the dance first, or it can come together, it just depends. Paco can be saying to me let's look at this area, I want to do this, let's go down this route and push me to explore something he wants to look at. We work very closely together, it comes in stages, a bit of this, then a bit of that, and we keep working to see what we get.
And do you ever disagree?
We discuss! Of course, we sometimes disagree and we discuss what we want to do. But then after the storm comes the calm, and the good work comes out of these times.
There can be a kind of creative tension, or understanding because we are so close - it can be difficult. Sometimes we can be trying to express the same idea but in completely different ways, and so it takes a long time for us to realise that we're actually saying the same thing.
Then there's another thing - separating the personal from the artistic. Sometimes I don't like an idea Paco has suggested but I don't want to hurt him, I think I'd be less upset about upsetting and disagreeing with a stranger.
Then on the other hand, we have got to a point beyond having to use words. He can sense how I am feeling, for example I could be sitting after a premiere, just staring at the wall and he will tell me not to worry, not to mull things over in my head.
Does this understanding it make you more in tune with each other onstage?
Always, always. I can walk out onstage and just from the way I am breathing, Paco will know what I need. But there is another part of me when I'm dancing, an inner part of me, which no-one will ever be able to enter, just as for Paco no-one can enter this part of him when he is playing or writing music.
Your work is very driven by personal feelings. How did this affect the making of 5 Women 5 and creating the narrative of the piece?
I started thinking about the questions surrounding important women in history, women who we remember for their struggle to express themselves as women, women who become almost mythical to us. It might Penelope in ancient mythology or Carmen in flamenco mythology.
I began to think about this, I was turning it over in my mind. I noticed these women's fulfilment and their ability to break out of the roles expected of them. I realised how many there are of these women who remain anonymous, and who may or may not manage that fulfilment, who may or may not become mythical. That was really the starting point for 5 Women 5, an attempt at a completely different approach of exploring woman through four emotions - love, ambition, solitude and madness.
Was making the film, Flamenco Women, with Mike Figgis a good experience for you?
At first my initial feelings were that I was terrified! It was the first experience I had of working in film and just the feeling of having a camera following me around was quite scary at first.
But the real magic was working with Mike, and getting to know him. I had seen his films before, but I hadn't realised that I had. Someone told me he directed Leaving Las Vegas, which is one of my favourite films and then I felt even more scared! But the beauty about working with Mike is that you hardly realise he's there, I was able to be myself and that was a wonderful feeling. The idea of people not realising you're there is something I've heard said about the role of a good choreographer, and this is what I saw in Mike when we were making the film. Quite apart from that, it was just wonderful to get to know Mike, he has become a good friend from making the film.
