He explains that he fell in love with dance at the age of three, from the high chair, watching his sister dance in the dining room at home. Yoel Vargas (19 years old), raised in Tarragona, won this summer the prestigious Desplante prize as best male flamenco dancer at the International Festival of Cante de las Minas de la Unión. He had previously won other awards. A dancer with the soul of a choreographer, he lives in Madrid, because his body asked him to, and he is in the company of Manuel Liñán. He maintains ties with Tarragona and Barcelona, where he trained as a professional. The appointment is at Cordobés, on the Rambla, in the morning, before the tablao explodes in the evening. When he is not on tour, the tablaos are his "laboratory".
What does Displantation mean?
It has come thanks to all the people who have contributed during my career and training. I feel grateful.
A coveted prize?
When you decide to present yourself, you prepare a lot, you have to believe in yourself a lot, but above all you need a lot of help. I have achieved this thanks to my team: Enrique el Extremeño and Miguel Ortega on vocals; on the guitar, Ñoño Santiago, and on the compass, José Cortés el Indio. Having them do a custom job for me has been brutal.
Does the dancer always work in a team?
An artist always has a lot of people behind him, from the cobbler who put the nails in the boot to the parents or teachers who taught you.
You define yourself as a dancer and choreographer, why?
As a dancer, you are the master of your dance, which is why I consider myself a choreographer. Working on a tablao, on a daily basis, I am constantly creating. A tablao is improvisation, it is the purest way to see flamenco. Here I improvise and take new things out of an idea or a rhythmic and plastic concept. I have many concerns as a creator, I love working with different genres of music.
How would you like to take advantage of your choreographer soul?
Now I'm happy dancing and creating my little projects. The goal is not to stop dancing and creating. My happiness is being dance and thinking about dance. I don't set a goal.
Do you feel part of a new generation of dancers?
In Spain there is a large quarry. Flamenco evolves and every time young people come out more prepared, with more technique, and sooner. There are more facilities, in the past it cost a lifetime to learn a dance step. Now learning is very easy, we can do whatever we want with the internet. But there are also some elderly people who are very respected in flamenco, we have to drink from this information to learn more from their wisdom.
Does Tarragona breathe flamenco?
There is a lot of Andalusian culture, with wonderful academies, with a great love of dancing. It is part of culture and history, I see a very Flemish Catalonia. Historically, I can tell you about Carmen Amaya or La Chana. Camarón and Morente have worked a lot in Catalonia. I studied here, in Madrid, Granada or Seville.
He talks a lot about the roots, but he is attracted to the avant-garde. What is your vision of flamenco?
You look at my Spotify [laughs]. There is everything from Vivaldi, Camarón or Rosalía... they are all there. Flamenco is an art that has drunk from many influences. The Flemish artist must not be pigeonholed, he must continue to plan. Camarón, Morente or Paco de Lucía are the first to mix. It is necessary to continue drinking in different styles: musical, artistic or cinematic.
Tablaos, like Cordobés, what do they mean to you?
It's improvisation... like jazz. The pattern is the flamenco pole, but every day you dance differently even if you do the same choreography. Many factors influence it.
Is it easy for a bailaor to make a living?
You throw yourself into the trenches one day and you find many wonderful spaces, there are a lot of tablaos in all corners of Spain and many companies. I have felt very easy, there is room for everyone. We live in a time when all this is being taken care of.
He has already traveled the world with flamenco. How was it?
I performed in Taiwan with a piece of mine, in Spanish, Lola Flores reciting, and people understood the emotion I wanted to convey. It makes my hair stand on end.
Where is it headed?
I see myself dancing, whatever part of the world I am; if they take the dance away from me, I wouldn't be happy.
And what does he feel when he dances?
In tablao you go through all the moods. When I dance I feel tremendous freedom, I am master of my dance, I feel that I am naked, that I open my soul to whoever looks at me. I dance for myself, but I trace an imaginary channel with the audience, who want to have a good time. He understands more or less flamenco, he wants to have fun. And you have to know how to give it to them.
