JERUSALEM POST
June 6th 1975

DANCE

FLASH OF FLAMENCO FIRE

by Dora Sowden

Spanish dance performed in genuine and glittering style could be very
popular in Israel, to judge from the solo programme presented by
Silvia Duran (Tzavta, Tel Aviv June 1st).  She could have filled a
stage twice the size with her wide-sweeping dances - and drawn an
audience more than twice the size.

In six dances she showed the graceful elegance of classical Spanish
movement, the seductive innocence of regional folk rhythms and the
fiery virtuoso qualities of true flamenco.  Her zapateados in the final
"Alegrias" would have brought "ole" from any Spanish audience.
Indeed this Jewish girl from South Africa has made a remarkable
career for herself in Spain.

Even without the encouraging cries and clapping that accompany
Spanish dancers, Silvia Duran created the excitement of the flash
of flamenco fire.  Her superspeed heel-tapping made its own music.
Her superbly handled long-tailed skirt and eloquent arm language
brought the house down.

In dances from Valencia and Navarra, dressed in the appropriate
regional costumes, she also commanded the lighter, more volatile
verve and daintier dynamics of the country spirit.  In this new set
of toe and ankle movements, her style was gay and engaging in an
altogether different way.

Silvia Duran opened her programme with a dramatically classical
solo in which, from finger tips to heel taps, from castanet clicking to
high kicks the rhythms always maintaining aristocratic poise.

A dance of her own devising, inspired by the epoque of the Marranos
began with the lighting of candles and offered a more sentimental and
lyrical view of her art.  Here she "travelled" across the stage in smooth
gliding motion or in swift romantic turns.

The whole performance had the expert and projective character that
makes Spanish dance so seductive.