Impulso

Dancer and choreographer Rocío Molina is the face of modern flamenco, an artist so inspired that, after seeing one of her performances, Baryshnikov himself got down on his knees in front of her in a gesture of worship. Part biography of the riveting performer—who has suffered the wrath of flamenco’s more conservative advocates—and part chronicle of the preparations for a show at Paris’ Théâtre National de Chaillot, Emilio Belmonte’s infectious documentary perfectly captures Molina’s extravagant passion and supreme talent. And oh, what glorious dance! "Every dancer is looking for the trance, to forget themselves. Every artist is looking for that. Rocío does not only do her show and then go away and repeat it—she’s looking for something every time. So when I met her, I recognized a very special artist. For me, she’s one of the best dancers in the history of flamenco. I didn’t want to do a straight biopic about her, absolutely not. What is special about Rocío is not herself as a person, but herself as a medium… Flamenco is about death; it is a very powerful music and people are touched, I am touched… The film is 100% flamenco; we tried to edit it to the flamenco rhythm to respect the music… I did this film for people who will look back in 50 years to know who this woman was and what flamenco was at the beginning of this century."—Emilio Belmonte