Although I’ve now lived in the Twin Cities for over two years and attended numerous plays and music events, before last weekend I had sadly never attended a dance performance in the area—even though dance is probably my favorite form of artistic expression to watch. Maybe I knew I’d get depressed that I’d stopped dancing after 15 years of ballet, but no excuse suffices: I’ve missed dance.

The Twin Cities (and even Macalester) have much to offer in the world of dance, whether classical, modern or any other form. Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend a performance of the Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theatre at the Southern Theater in Minneapolis, which reverberated with the creative arts energy of the area.

In this creative new work entitled Mantón, choreographer Susana di Palma returns to 19th century Spain to explore the complex social conditions behind the mantón—the luxurious, elaborately embroidered shawls worn by fashionable Spanish women. These shawls, however, were created by Chinese women who were often exploited in sweatshop conditions.

The scenes of Mantón, set in 1910, alternates between Madrid and a mantón factory in Pearl River, Canton.

The performance combined flamenco dance with aspects of drama (including recitations of text written by Maria Cheng and poetry written by Macalester Assistant English Professor Wang Ping) and visual mediums (slides). The music was also varied, ranging from Claude Debussy’s “Nuit en Grenade” and Georges Bizet’s “Prelude to Carmen,” to musical excerpts from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Although this all provided an interesting combination of mediums and deepened the significance of the message, I was still most intrigued by the actual flamenco dancing, never having seen this form of dance in a live performance. The use of different rhythms and turns were all quite impressive, and definitely the highlight of the show.

One of my favorite scenes didn’t have any music—simply two performers working on a Mantón in a Chinese sweatshop creating a rhythm by stomping their feet while sewing. The precision, combined with the seeming simplicity of the choreography, was simply astounding.

My absolute favorite scene, however, came toward the end as all of the performers created a half-circle and each took a turn performing in the center. All of the dancers created amazing syncopated rhythms through just small movements of their feet, never losing a beat. Much of the great flamenco dance came out in this scene, especially as the company’s director, Susana di Palma, came to the center of the circle.

Zorengo Flamenco’s Mantón displayed an interesting experiment with a combination of different mediums. Although the messages on beauty and exploitation were clear and important, I have to admit that I would have liked to have seen more flamenco dancing—as this was certainly the highlight of the night.

Nevertheless, the dancing, drama, music and fabulous costumes (including many fashionable mantóns) all combined to create an excellent performance.