Rocío Molina's Grito Pelao: Flamenco as Maternal Deconstruction

Rocío Molina, the Spanish flamenco choreographer and dancer associated with Théâtre national de Chaillot since 2015, presented Grito Pelao at the same venue from October 9 to 11, 2018. The piece, created at the Festival d'Avignon in July 2018, was performed for the last time at Chaillot. Molina was seven months and two weeks pregnant during the October 9 performance. The work explores the limits of flamenco through her transformed body, accompanied by singer Silvia Pérez Cruz, her own mother, and musicians. The stage features white surfaces, sand, a water basin, and abstract video projections. Unlike her previous piece Caida del Cielo (2017), which sought exhaustion, Grito Pelao deconstructs her dance by embracing the physical constraints of pregnancy. The performance includes a taranto danced by her mother, and a moment where Molina dances seated like older women, suggesting generational passage. The documentary Impulso, released in theaters on October 10, 2018, traces the creation of Caida del Cielo. Molina, 34, states in the film that her youth and energy can be obstacles to her research. The piece questions traditional flamenco violence and maternal fear, with Molina saying, 'I fear I may not love you more than my dance' to her unborn child.