Rafael Amargo has a sense that he is bringing flamenco home - not only closer to its Spanish traditions but to its ancient Arab roots. In his performances tonight and tomorrow at the Emirates Palace auditorium as part of Adach's World Stage programme, the handsome, 35-year-old heir apparent to the title of Spain's finest flamenco dancer believes it will strike a chord with the audience because of the form's strong links with Arab culture.
"I think the audience will understand it well, because flamenco is from Andalusia, from the Andalus people," Amargo says as he prepares for his show, called Intimo. Speaking with a Spanish lilt and the effervescence that has infused his dancing and captivated audiences and critics worldwide, Amargo emphasises that connection between the Arab world and flamenco. Granada, where Amargo was born in 1975, is home to the Alhambra Palace, where East meets West at the pinnacle of sensual Moorish expression. Flamenco is steeped in Arabic tradition and Amargo is confident Abu Dhabi audiences will respond. "It is an art from the Emirates people," he says.
Amargo was catapulted to international stardom with award-winning shows such as Poeta Nueva York, which had its premiere in New York in 2006, based on poetry by his idol Federico García Lorca. He starred in the Olivier Award-nominated musical Zorro in London's West End in 2008, has taken part as a juror in the French talent show Star Academy and is a regular in Spanish films. Physically, he is slim but solid and muscular, his dancing athletic and powerful. He combines fast, rhythmic and intricate footwork with control. He can choreograph both mesmerising group routines and haunting solo pieces.
But his rise to stardom has not been without controversy and his willingness to push artistic boundaries has upset flamenco purists. Traditional flamenco fuses guitar, singing and dancing in a spontaneous outburst of passion and melancholy - rather different from the rehearsed choreography for which Amargo is renowned. While he is unrepentant about his style of dance and his forays into other mediums, he wants there to be no doubt his first love is flamenco, and that its essence is at the heart of all his performances. "I was born into it. Flamenco was in my family."
He believes that Abu Dhabi, which he calls the centre of the Middle East, is an important place to perform and to visit. "Now is a good time to go because it is enjoying good times in business and culture," he says. "I am looking forward to discovering it." In his Abu Dhabi show, unlike many previous productions, Amargo will create an intimate experience relying foremost on flamenco music, the click of heels and the clapping of hands and little in the way of multimedia wizardry.
"I am very excited, for this will be my first time in Abu Dhabi," he says. "It will be a pleasure because there is no acting, no arguments; it is pure dance in centre stage. Flamenco does not use speech, so I use my body language to show my character, my emotions, my art." After the show's hour and 15 minutes of "strong flamenco", he adds, "I think that the audience will cry with emotion." The dancer is also generous with praise for the company that tours with him: "The music director is Juan Parrilla. I have worked with him for three years - he used to be music director for Joaquin Cortes. The music is powerful with emotion, raw. The costumes are by famous Spanish fashion designer Amaya Arzuaga."
To leave the Abu Dhabi crowd in no doubt about what to expect he exclaims with relish: "The show is going to be chic and sexy but not fusion. Fusion is confusion." The show will be "pure flamenco". Intimo is tonight and tomorrow at 8.30pm at the Emirates Palace auditorium. Adach World Stage information: 02-657 6359. Tickets: www.timeouttickets.com.