Stepping outside to get some air with the neighbours might not seem like a revolutionary act. Spending the afternoon eating sunflower seeds. But in company, the spark of chance can catch fire at any moment. A rhythm can become a phrase. A gesture can give rise to a beat. And then, all of a sudden, it begins. The body snaps to attention, heels strike the ground, hands find the way. They play tarantos.

As a flamenco style, the taranto originated in the mining region of Almería. It is characterised by its starkness and austerity, and is sung without a guitar. María del Mar Suárez (La Chachi), who left us spellbound at the TNT in 2023 with Los inescalables Alpes, buscando a Currito, returns to Terrassa with a new contemporary flamenco piece alongside singer Lola Dolores, in what is her clearest display yet of simplicity and raw power.

Taranto aleatorio begins as a conversation between voice and body, following its own whimsical, erratic course. Far removed from spectacle and folklore, it is a piece that spreads by contagion: it erupts suddenly and sets everything ablaze, only to subside moments later and dissolve into silence. Silence is, in fact, an essential part of the dramaturgy: what happens on the surface cannot be understood unless we pause to listen to what lies beneath. And that is precisely what La Chachi and Lola do: they lead us down into subterranean chambers, sheltered from the noise, where song can finally emerge.

Taranto aleatorio captures, in a particularly striking manner, the spirit of this year’s TNT, with its decision to go out into public squares and bringing neighbourhoods to life, both in central Terrassa and across its districts. This presentation forms part of a series of works that occupy and transform public space, such as Granotes al cel, aigua a la terra! by Banda Esfèrica and Oxímoron by Checho Tamayo.