Dance: Spanish duo serenade Abuja

Penultimate Friday at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja residents and the diplomatic community were treated to a dance performance by Fernando Hurtado and Inma Montalvo of the Spanish Compañía Fernando Hurtado, dance organisation. With songs including Nigel Kennedy and Kroke’s ‘Ederlezi;’ Placebo’s ‘In the cold light of Morning’ and an orchestra ensemble & Lalo Schifrin’s […]

Penultimate Friday at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja residents and the diplomatic community were treated to a dance performance by Fernando Hurtado and Inma Montalvo of the Spanish Compañía Fernando Hurtado, dance organisation.

With songs including Nigel Kennedy and Kroke’s ‘Ederlezi;’ Placebo’s ‘In the cold light of Morning’ and an orchestra ensemble & Lalo Schifrin’s ‘Corazón de Oro’s, the duo, along with their technician Manuel Castillo, who manned the lighting, serenaded the audience.

They performed around the theme, ‘Alguien vendrá a buscarnos’ (‘Someone will come to look for us’).

The evening opened with performances by the duo along with dancers from Abuja-based Afritheatre, with whom they had earlier had masterclasses.

In his opening remark, Spanish envoy to Nigeria, Marcelino Cabanas, said the was aimed at improving the cultural ties between Spain and Nigeria. Hence the performance of a contemporary dance fusion, depicting Spanish and Nigerian cultures.

According to Cabanas, Spain would like to strengthen the cultural ties between the two countries, as the performance enhanced this goal.

He said, “We also have great interest in Nigeria culture and language, so teaching Spanish is one of our priority as well. We have important ties on peace, security, economy and cultural dance. We try to boost our ties in every field, especially in culture.”

Speaking about the Spanish Embassy in Abuja, inviting the group to perform in Nigeria, Eva Barta, Cultural Advisor at the embassy said, they wanted to show something new, as against the admired flamenco performances.

There was nothing in the dance steps and flexibility of the 53-year-old Hurtado, that showed the lead dancer was a minute older than an 18-year-old. With nimble feet and deft fingers, he matched Montalvo, pace for pace as the delivered on each note relaying sub-themes like support and love, among others.

Explaining the dance Hurtado said it is all around, “looking for company by not being alone, because we do not want to be alone in life. We don’t want to be away from people who surround us.”

He said whenever he dances, he tries his best possible, to create a connection between the stage and the audience, to become one. “If the audience doesn’t reach the dancers then we don’t reach our goal,” he said.

For him, the future of the fusion of Spanish and the Nigerian dance, “starts with cooperation, with this type of activity. We have to come together to share our views and mentality. Nigerian needs to come to Spain and Spain needs to come to Nigeria. All arts and dance go through emotions and emotions are universal.”