Alegria Flamenco Malta, a Maltese dance company and school specialising in flamenco, recently performed their full-length show Cuatro at Theatre Next Door on April 15 and 16. The performance was envisioned as a flamenco dance performance inspired by Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

The show entwined different choreographies and cantes (songs) around Vivaldi’s classic, played live by the ProMuzika Ensemble string quartet onstage.

Ten distinct parts composed the whole show, each clustered in response to one of the four seasons and an opening prelude.

The sole bailaor (male dancer) and each bailaora (female dancer) brought the full breadth of the dance form to each of the 10 parts, whether an expression of profound emotion or boundless energy. They all embodied the essence of the dance form, from footwork (zapateado) and heelwork (taconeo) to solo passages (solea), whether dressed in frills and donning shawls.  

Each season was treated as expected – autumn is crisp and invigorating, winter is billowy and melancholic, spring is vibrant and revivifying, and summer is an explosion of passion and joy, but the interpretation of some seasons during the performance was less successful than others.

The show began with a prelude introducing the birth of the elements (Nacimiento de los Elementos), attributed to the Alegria Dance Company and choreographed by Estelle Bonello Sant.

Birdsong, sea and thunder boomed from speakers as the first set of dancers began their percussive footwork, striking me as a somewhat cacophonous start.

Along came autumn and a live rendition from Vivaldi’s classic, accompanied by choreography by Ema Marie Attard and a graphic in the background illustrating the season in question.  Next came a set of young flamenco dancers – the Nuevos Comienzos (new beginnings) – perhaps illustrating the invigorating effect of autumn, dancing to choreography by Ingrid Sciberras. They were a welcome sight and elicited many a smile in the audience. I wonder how they came to be dancing flamenco.

The interpretation of some seasons was less successful than others

Another Sciberras piece followed and featured a set of dancers donning fans – a homage to autumn wind. Despite the vigour of windiness, and perhaps in keeping with the placid tune of the cante, I felt the dancers’ movements were somewhat stiff and not very vivid.

The sting quartet re-emerged onstage for the fifth part with another Vivaldi movement, introducing winter.

A graphic of a storm appeared in the background. A sole dancer gave a powerful rendition here before another set of dancers came onstage.

I felt I was seeing the same movements over and over again from the dancers in response to wintry turbulence. I began at this point to get a bit bored.

Then, as the seventh part of the show began with another Vivaldi movement, a set of dancers in bright, floral dresses and shawls came onto the stage in a spirit of exaltation. They danced to choreography by Sciberras in full bloom, using their shawls in a sensuous display of fluid motion.

The eighth part was equally invigorating – a clear expression of joy choreographed by Attard. It was then that I realised where the dance company excels. The dances now were a lot more interesting.

Summer shone onto the stage with Vivaldi again, featuring the ProMuzika Ensemble front and centre.

The final part of the show was a burst of colour and energy. Choreographed by Bonello Sant, the piece displayed the control and power of flamenco and even demonstrated it as a dance form intrinsically linked to community.

Alegria Flamenco Malta seem to know how to treat joy very well, giving it interest and colour and beauty, but seem to be less capable when it comes to darker themes and tones, falling into repetition and moving with stiffness. I feel that if the dance company manages to extract the nuances inherent to darker themes in their interpretations, then they will have reached new heights.