Noche Flamenca’s ‘Irrationalities’ at the Joyce Theater without Soledad Barrio

Noche Flamenca’s program “Irrationalities” is playing at the Joyce Theater during the company’s two-week run through Feb. 8; the troupe’s star, Soledad Barrio, is not performing because of a broken foot, the review says. The program, choreographed by Barrio and director Martín Santangelo, mixes pieces from the company’s last two shows with new numbers and is guided by Francisco Goya’s series “Los Disparates.” It opens with the company huddled on a raft-like table, an echo of Goya’s “Disparate Ridículo,” and moves from convivial passages into darker sequences that evoke war and death.

The review notes a thematic through line that draws parallels between ignorance and fear in Goya’s time and today and proposes fellowship and art as a counterforce. The company uses recorded music for the first time in a new number for three women with red fans, pairing 1930s zarzuela “La Picarona” with strings by Boccherini; the recordings create a jarring, satirical effect but feel unintegrated.

Newcomer Gabriel Matias, a Brazilian dancer trained in Spain, is singled out for technical clarity and moments of beauty, and Juan Ogalla takes Barrio’s slot in a traditional seguiriya, delivering an intense, if occasionally strained, performance. The usual musicians—the guitarist-composer Salva de María and singers Emilio Florido and Carmina Cortés—are said to hold the fort, while choreography and direction continue to flow.

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