I love Rosario, and maybe I am biased because I’ve worked with her, but even if I hadn’t, there is so much joy that comes across in her dancing it’s hard not to love her.  I really think she is the Lucille Ball of the flamenco world, and it’s pretty hard not to love that.  She is extremely theatrical, but in a different way than artists such as María Pagés or Sara Baras.  Rosario is theatrical in the sense that she uses acting and dramatizing to set the stage for her dancing.
‘Vengo’ is a piece she created to perform in the streets in Cádiz, her hometown, and this time she performed in front of the Giralda tower in Sevilla.  It begins with her taking the train back home from Sevilla.  On the “train” (represented by a few chairs in rows and sound effects), she answers her “phone” which is her flamenco shoe—a perfect example of her silliness.

Once in Cádiz she comes alive, dancing and playing on the beach—she even has a makeshift beach in the middle of the outdoor plaza in a rectangle of sand and fishing net laid carefully over the bricks.  Rosario then dances por bulerias to recorded music by Dani de Morón.  After setting up her persona in the earlier parts, now her enjoyment in the dance shines through.  I think her theatricality in this was perfect for an outdoor setting—and the audience seemed to agree—putting up with the heat just to watch her dance.  ¡Olé Rosario!

After the performance I got drinks with Rosario and her family.  They are all such sweet people! And I noted that she gets her silliness from her father, who at one point got her attention by throwing crumpled napkins at her.  He also insisted on buying everyone more drinks, because as he explained to me using what little English he knows, “beer is very ‘portant in espain.”  He also knows how to say, “being in espain is very good,” and indeed it is 🙂