María del Mar Suárez, La Chachi

Taranto aleatorio

Spain The Twenty24

Two women eat sunflower seeds in a park, a doorway and a courtyard. They share a common space, a conversation, the intimacy of silence. The cante (singing) and baile (dancing) suddenly burst forth, transforming the mundane scene into a magic intimate spectacle.

A Taranto is a palo (form) of flamenco originally from the mining area of Almería. It’s a primitive song, simple, dry, without guitar, which was born from the need to sing independently. In Taranto Aleatorio (Random Taranto), choreographer and dancer María del Mar Suárez/LaChachi and singer Lola Dolores embark on their personal take of this palo’s stark rawness. By taking a random approach, the dancer and singer embrace irreverent gestures and humour emerges.

Biography

La Chachi has earned her place in the tradition of breaking down and reassessing flamenco, following the path of other outsiders like El Niño de Elche, Israel Galván and Rocío Molina. An actress and dancer, she graduated in both disciplines in Malaga, her hometown. After specialising in flamenco with “La Lupi”, training in physical theatre, new dramaturgy and contemporary dance, she discovered her true passion: the union of all these disciplines.

María del Mar Suárez/La Chachi, is no new arrival, because she has been twisting the traditional flamenco language since 2008 to fit it to her unique style, where hybridisation is the norm. She made her first piece in 2017, La gramática de los mamíferos (The Grammar of Mammals), which received several nominations and awards. Her second work La Espera received support from Teatros del Canal (Madrid) and was programmed at the Teatro Central in Sevilla. Los inescalables Alpes, buscando a Currito (The Unclimbable Alps, Looking for Currito) was presented at Festival de Otoño of Madrid and in 2022 received the Godot Dance Award.

Performances

25 July 2024 Taranto Aleatorio at Danse Festival Malta Floriana, Malta Find out more

12 July 2024 Taranto Aleatorio at Julidans Amsterdam, Netherlands Find out more

14 May 2024 Taranto Aleatorio in Ljubljana Ljubljana, Slovenia Find out more