Caprichos del Tiempo

A dialogue with the everlasting

Each period has its own distinctive styles and tendencies: those who seek safe refuge can follow contemporary trends, adhere to the established canon at any given moment. The genuine artist however, is aware that creativity is more than simply a question of following fashion, they aim for a dialogue with the eternal, not simply the present, and they confront a void, a space without certainty, where there is none of the comfort of convention as defined by others. Isabel Bayón has always danced from a perspective of personal investigation, ignoring the styles of the moment, aware that she shouldn’t be drawn into the tendencies which seem to be governing the world at any given time. Every time she performs she is searching for her inner self, her choreography is full of joy and fear, creating a network of sensations which are far too complex to be simply an expression of a particular era. Fighting the ephemeral, Bayón attempts to reach something timeless, permanent, something which speaks of what it is to be human, something which any spectator can relate to. A work which is full of passion, revelation and enthusiasm has its roots in life itself, and will resist any force of nature which may try to destroy it.

This piece is a reflection on time and how it affects what we do. It is not however addressing simply the changes in taste, the tides of popular opinion which wash over us, the arbitrary nature by which something modern becomes outdated, and then later, becomes fashionable once again. Isabel Bayón looks to the past to understand the present: an artist needs to have a memory to address the future, they need to move forwards whilst drawing on the legacy they have inherited. The show combines the musical and aesthetic approaches of the past with a contemporary sensibility and the result is a piece which celebrates those figures who went far beyond the conventions of their day: names such as Sabicas, Paco de Lucía, Ramón Montoya and Manuel Vallejo, great masters who used their talent to expand the boundaries of flamenco. Caprichos del tiempo pays homage to these figures but avoids the easy nostalgia which suggests that the past was always better: what Bayón does is launch herself towards the horizon from a timeless perspective, in which art is not governed by inertia but celebrates the great masters who were courageous enough to search inside themselves in order to find a new form of expression.