"The Iberian Peninsula is, in truth, a small part a peninsula and much more a continent: the extension or conclusion of Europe, one or the other, rarely both at the same time."
Predrag Matvejevic, Mediterranean Breviary
"Flamenco demands submission to rhythm and sound," wrote Raoul Maria de Angelis. Completely entrusted to her creative imagination, the performance of Mercedes Ruiz, one of the most important living interpreters of flamenco, should not require comments or exegeses, let alone introductions. Here, one simply needs to submit; to watch, and to feel: or rather, to let the eye watch, and to let oneself feel. Whoever cannot lose themselves in the rhythm of this ancient language of the body (composed, as is known, of singing and music as well as of dances) cannot advance any claim of understanding regarding the predominantly inner reasons for the percussive nature of this art. The experience of the emotional dimension, and the empathetic exercise of sharing, can restore to the spectator the laborious extension of the interpreter's presence, the dimension of pathos that corresponds to it; but to fully grasp its improvisational power, beyond, of course, a generic and passive wonder, one must know how to think of oneself as complicit in the interpreter's temperament. What does this mean? Simply that thanks to her presence, the spectator has the opportunity to experience, in real terms albeit at an expressive level, the elsewhere; the spectator has the possibility of being led beyond the boundaries of any narrative, beyond the mental solitudes of the divisions of any exercise of recognition. Reality here is the control of tension and fall, the even somber experience of a hypnosis. Ruiz's temperament puts something fundamental into play: it is the flamenco that demands it. It is the incarnation of a style. The style of doing, not of how or why. It is the incorporation of style. And without compromise. Take it or leave it.
Dibujo en el aire is divided as is customary for a flamenco show into numerous sections alternating between dance, singing, and music (including: De ronda a Graná – Granaina, Azabache – Seguirilla, En torno a ti – Farruca, Oro fino – Caracoles, Moras y flores – Pregones, Solo un camino – Solea por bulería). The different entrances and the colors of the stage costumes of Mercedes Ruiz seem to dictate an order that in reality is only fictitious, because here, in the end, only imagination, impulse, and the testimony of an unrepeatable encounter count.
Mercedes Ruiz began to dance professionally at the age of six, performing around the world and working with the greatest interpreters of modern flamenco, including Eva Yerbabuena, Miguel Poveda, and Antonio El Pipa. Her awards include Best Newcomer for the 2002 edition of the Venencia Flamenca Awards, the Biennial Prize at the Seville Biennial Flamenco Festival of 2002, the Critics' Award at the Flamenco Festival of Jerez of 2007, the Best Female Interpretation Movimentos Dance Prize Wolzburg 2009, among many others.
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