Ballet Cristina Hoyos, City Center, New York, New York, October 14-26, 1997.

Cristina Hoyos is a legendary flamenco star, known throughout the world for the precise vigor of her dancing in the films of Carlos Saura. Under the watchful eye of master choreographer Antonio Gades, Hoyos brought exceptional clarity, tight and precise zapateado (footwork), and fluid balletic line to such Films as Carmen, El Amor Brujo, and Blood Wedding. Moreover, she held the viewer captive with her focused intent and physical mastery of character. Hoyos's precision and seriousness set her apart. She embodied the complex mix of utter femininity and bone-crushing machismo that empowers the women of flamenco.

Comparing Hoyos's extraordinary work on film with that onstage at City Center, I can only conclude that not all great dancers make great choreographers. For this engagement the star's ability and appeal were subsumed by craftless dancemaking, an oddly unsuccessful mix of choreography by Hoyos and another flamenco legend, Manolo Marin. The combination of modern dance sensibilities with flamenco music and footwork has been successfully explored on other stages. But on Hoyos's program, this mixed aesthetic dissipated the strength of the flamenco form.

Transforming the traditional, intimate tablao setting to the proscenium stage requires a reconception of the flamenco experience. In the two evening-length programs offered at City Center, "Arsa y Toma" and "Caminos Andaluces," much was lost in the translation. In "Arsa y Toma," Hoyos's solo work failed to evoke the edgy beauty of the dancer who once was. Using deep Second Position plies, contractions, and whirlwind arms, Hoyos's sentimental posturing lacked specificity. She played to the audience, compromising her famous internal focus, making melodrama where there might have been drama.

The ensemble work was somewhat more successful. Groups of men and women danced in unison and counterpoint, defining simple spatial structures that highlighted the elegant carriage of the torso. The stage was balanced by dancers weaving through each other, allowing fast palmas accelerate as the rhythmic intensity of the footwork grew. The women's hard femininity showed a raw aggression, characterized by the traditional scowl of concentration known as fea bonita, or the beauty of ugliness.

Hoyos' City Center programs allowed little room for improvisation, which is integral to flamenco's excitement. The call and response relationship between dancer and musician gave way to staid structure. The dancers resembled a corps de ballet, losing the rich individuality of each performer that might otherwise emerge. Dancers entered and exited inexplicably, without acknowledging each other, as the choreography focused on fast and furious rhythms, sacrificing the sensuality of the slow cante jondo, or deep song. The exception was Juan Ogalla, whose supple back, clarity of line and spirited attack stood out, even as he partnered Hoyos (though without progam credit). Here, there was not only friction; there was heat.