House of Flamenka was billed as a lavish Flamenco show co-created and directed by dance legend Arlene Philipps. It came with a surprising little twist,however: the cast was almost entirely made up of male dancers (with one exception), and the dancing was not traditional Flamenco, but instead it was heavily fused with contemporary music and dance. I wasn’t prepared for that, but boy did I love it.
The result was an expertly choreographed high-octane performance, only occasionally slowed down by the narrative centred around a beautiful female lead (singer and dancer Karen Ruimy) whose energy felt at times restrained, compared to the rest of the cast. The momentum was never lost though, with a succession of numbers eliciting sensual, playful, and passionate feelings.
The dancers’ talent and energy were beautifully highlighted by the originality of their costumes, with the show at times taking a more burlesque direction. A solo performance was a nod to the Vogue dance era; and later on, a cabaret number acted as a twinkle to The Moulin Rouge; keeping in the spirit of the show in fusing the old and new.
By the end of the hour and fifty minutes, I was on my feet, singing along to ‘Alors, on dance’, by Stromae. Surely, this is how to kick off the weekend.
House of Flamenka at the Peacock Theatre, London
