Edinburgh International Festival: Peña is determined to put his stamp on immigration

Published on Friday 26 March 2010 18:23

"All my life I've seen people who live and work in Europe but whose home is really somewhere in northern Africa," says Peña. "And I've been moved by their eagerness to see family whenever they can, the longing to get back to their roots.

But lately, the media in Spain is full of examples of people dying in the ocean – trying to get to Europe via the Canary Islands because it's seen as such a haven, a promised paradise. So, having seen so much of that, I'm ready to do something artistic with it."

Hailed as one of the finest flamenco guitarists of all time, Pea has revolutionised the art form, taking flamenco music, dance and song to new audiences across the world. His latest show, Quimeras (Chimera), takes on the thorny issue of immigration, exploring the hopes and dreams of those leaving their African homeland – and the impact their arrival has on the native Spaniards they encounter.

Pea was inspired to create the show back in 2001, when a shocking news story caught his attention. The increase in immigrants arriving in Spain through clandestine methods had stirred up social tension in Catalonia, leading to the horrific attempt to set an African woman on fire. "This woman has gone through so much in her life to try to get bread for her family," says Pea. "And then some thug tries to burn her alive. So I decided I was going to do a show to try to vindicate the plight of these people."

The production was temporarily put on hold due to the 11 September, 2001, attacks on America, as Pea believes there wasn't "the right climate" to stage a work about people crossing borders. When Edinburgh International Festival director Jonathan Mills told Pea about his theme for this year's Festival, however, it seemed as though the time was right. "A great deal has happened since 9/11," says Pea . "So when Jonathan told me his ideas about frontiers and borders at the Festival, and asked me to do something, I thought this might be appropriate."

Quimeras is still at the planning stage, but Pea intends to put together a story told partly through narrative, but also through an abstract depiction of the complex emotions involved. Both musically and dance-wise, this means an exciting blend of African and flamenco rhythms.

"I want to establish two groups," explains Pea. "One group is travelling to Europe, looking forward with enthusiasm to finding paradise there, which is a chimera. And the other group is already there. I'll highlight musically the richness of the African culture – and the richness of own our culture, exemplified with flamenco. But then they have to integrate – because two groups of people mixing together eventually make something better than their separate parts."

Pea also wants to explore the fact Spaniards crossed borders in the past in search of food, and experienced the hardship that can entail. But, he says, "memories are short" and the discrimination felt by his countrymen back then is long forgotten.

Does Pea hope that his new show will give audiences pause for thought about their own attitude towards immigration? "I hope so very strongly," he says. "Because I am moved by the problems of these people and I would like everyone to engage with me in feeling moved by it. I'm going to place the facts in front of them, to point out that after all the struggles these people go through, they still end up being the underdog anyway. But that they actually bring a great contribution to our society – I want to end on that positive light."

&#149 Paco Pea Flamenco Dance Company performs at the Playhouse, Thursday 2 September until Saturday 4 September.

&#149 Sponsored by Standard Life.