WITH MARÍA BENÍTEZ
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SFR: What's the genesis of your company, from world-famous flamenco troupe to Institute for Spanish Arts?
MB:
It's been a long haul. We incorporated in the '70s as the María Benítez Spanish Dance Company and then we changed the name in 1985 to ISA. But we were still a nonprofit already; it was just a name change. But I felt that once my active dance career was over, I wasn't particularly interested in opening a towel boutique on the Plaza. I felt that I should put the years of experience to use for other artists. Easier said than done. One of my main goals is to provide more performing opportunities because that's the one thing that young artists have a problem with: finding work. And finding a way to make a living with what they want to do, whether it's playing the guitar or singing or dancing. I was hoping to try to fill that void and I have a little bit, but I see that there's a long way to go and it's very discouraging for young people to dedicate themselves totally to the arts and then wonder, 'How am I going to make a living with this?'
You must have struggled with that your entire life.
It's difficult. I feel for any young person because it's a difficult thing to make a commitment toward. And it's scary because when we're that age we have a lot of questions and doubts and insecurities about ourselves. Probably some of those continue throughout the rest of our lives. It's not so much the discipline end of it. The scary part of it is wondering if you have the talent to do this well. But I'm seeing now that in this next generation that the commitment isn't quite there. It's more, 'Let me see what this is going to give to me before I commit to it.' So it's putting the cart before the horse.
Do you think that old folks would have said that about your generation when you were young?
Maybe so. I imagine the generation prior required making a commitment at a very young age. Or you made a commitment and you were not allowed to follow that artistic commitment. A lot of times you just couldn't do it. But look at Russia! They get those kids when they're 6 or 7 and nurture them throughout their entire career.
OK. So, what compelled you to come home to Santa Fe to foster flamenco and Spanish culture?
We spent a lot of time in New York. We spent a lot of time on the road. Tours and tours and tours until you get to a point where you can't tour anymore. It's very arduous. Very difficult. There are a lot of compensations. We've done the biggest theaters in the country. But after years and years of that you start looking for a little less travel and a little bit more home. Home becomes very important. And you look around you and there are other compelling reasons like aging parents and people who need you to be around a little bit more.
Is this realization part and parcel to your decision to retire? Or does it have to do with wanting to focus on other work?
Probably a little bit of both. Dance is very physical. You can't dance…forever. I wanted to return to the stage this summer because sometimes when it's been so intense for so many years it's very healthy to take a step away and get some perspective on what you've done and what you'd like to do. And I felt that this was the time to do it because I don't have much time left. And it's also a tremendous challenge because I now will do things most definitely my own way and in what my capabilities are. We're doing the video retrospective and I'm looking at videos from 15 years ago and of course I'm thinking, 'I can't do that now.' And then I think, 'nor do I want to.'
Historically, flamenco as a form reflects pain and pride and desperation, like a physical lament. Is that how you were taught? How do you channel that?
In the actual training the expression isn't so-called 'taught.' You pick up the expression by watching others. And you also acquire it from within yourself once you have a very strong technique. Everyone has a different expression. Maybe one expression will look desperate but maybe it's the fact that you're putting your blood and guts and every ounce of your energy into the ground. That perhaps can give off an expression of desperation [laughs]. But I think it's more a particular expression of the soul of a person. That's the wonderful thing about flamenco; it's very much an individual expression.
So when you're performing you're channeling your highest self?
I think so. You're also channeling what your particular technique is.
So what are your physical assets? What's your technique?
That's always hard for us to describe, what we do as performers. It's probably tending a little bit more toward the dramatic. When we first start out we want to put the world into our dancing. We want it to go on forever. As we continue in our careers we realize that going on and on and doing every single step we ever learned is not really necessary. The object is to communicate something to your audience and have them relate to what you're doing. You really have to open your soul and you have to be totally giving of what you do.
Is the dance narrative? Is it a free-form conveyance of emotion?
It's probably emotion. And it can tell a story. Loss. Happiness. All of the emotions that we have…
María Benítez will perform in the career retrospective,
María Benítez: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
, July 21 through Sept. 3 at the Lodge of Santa Fe, 982-1237.
