Úrsula López

Compañía

 

Comedia sin título

DATE & TIME

Thurs. June 25TH, 8:00pm

 

LOCATION

Journal Theatre, NHCC

About

Comedia sin título

In Comedia sin título (La danza, el baile y el flamenco en la resurrección de Federico García Lorca), Úrsula López treats Lorca’s unfinished play as an opening rather than a script. The production begins from the single line Lorca left for the final act—an image of “arcángeles” in faralaes ascending—and turns it into a choreographic question: how did flamenco keep Lorca present after 1936, during the dictatorship and across exile? 

The work unfolds as a curated sequence of scenes, organized like chapters (A–C), that cite a wide field of dance history: stage flamenco and Spanish dance of the midcentury, modern dance responses to Lorca, and the post 1970s return of experimental dramaturgy. Rather than impersonating these sources, the company uses them as materials—rhythmic templates, choreographic motifs, theatrical frames—so the audience can feel continuity and rupture in real time. The synopsis foregrounds a particular lens: the formation of masculine codes in flamenco under Franco, including their contradictions, and the ways those codes traveled internationally. 

Pedro G. Romero (script/documentation) and director Luz Arcas shape a theatrical spine for the movement, while Úrsula López’s choreography is grounded in ensemble work: group patterns against solo statements, procession against stillness. Live music anchors the stage—cante (Perrate, Sebastián Cruz), guitar (Alfredo Lagos), sax (Juan Jiménez), percussion (Antonio Moreno)—with a sound space designed by Juan José Cañadas. Lighting and scenography by CUBE and costumes by Belén de la Quintana keep the visuals stripped back and contemporary, letting the archive emerge through bodies, not décor. The result reads as history made physical: rigorous, layered, and immediate. 


“”

…un espectáculo complejo, rebosante de matices y con el pellizco justo serpenteando el rastro del poeta. (…a complex performance, brimming with nuance, with just the right pellizco winding its way through the poet’s trail.)

Diario de Jerez

Cast & Credits

Úrsula López
Dance
Julia Acosta
Dance
Aitana Rousseau
Dance
Andrea Anto
Dance
María Gómez
Dance
Manual Jiménez
Dance
Federico Núñez
Dance
Iván Orellana
Dance
Jesús Hinojosa
Dance
Perrate
Cante
Sebastián Cruz
Cante
Alfredo Lagos
Guitar
Juan Jiménez
Saxophone
Antonio Moreno
Percussion
 
Photo: Ana Palma

About

Úrsula López

Úrsula López (Montilla, Córdoba; raised in Algeciras) is a bailaora, choreographer, and artistic director whose formation spans classical ballet, danza española, and flamenco. After continuing her studies in Seville with Manolo Marín, she began her professional career in the opera Carmen, directed by Carlos Saura at the Festival dei Due Mondi (Spoleto), and in 1996 joined the Compañía Andaluza de Danza. With that company she appeared in repertory that included works linked to María Pagés and José Antonio Ruiz, and she took soloist roles in choreographies such as Dharma (Eva Yerbabuena) and Malunó and Vals patético (José Antonio). In 2002, she participated in Bodas de sangre under Antonio Gades’s direction, and from 2004 to 2006 she worked with the Ballet Nacional de España as a guest artist.

In 2007, López founded her own company, premiering Abriendo camino at the Festival de Jerez and beginning longterm collaborations that included touring and Instituto Cervantes projects. Her productions as a company director include Flamenco se escribe con J, La otra piel, Dulce sal amarga, JRT (Julio Romero de Torres, pintor flamenco), and Las pequeñas cosas. She is also the founder of Flamencodanza Estudio in Seville. From 2020 to 2023 she served as artistic director of the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía, leading projects such as El maleficio de la mariposa and commissioning singular collaborations (including Gimnasio).

Study with

Úrsula López

during festival flamenco 39