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The flamenco dancer Soledad Barrio is a force of nature. The star of the company Noche Flamenca, which she leads with her husband, Martín Santangelo, Ms. Barrio tests the limits of physicality in one of her most important roles: Antigone. “I try to live that character and, especially, to feel the music,” she said before a recent performance at West Park Presbyterian Church. In flamenco, the lyrics direct her emotions; too much thinking just gets in the way. “I want to let other things take me,” she said. “I just want to be a vehicle. It has to be real.” In “Antigona” (through Jan. 28) her solos are tinged with aching sadness or filled with rage, revealed in frenetic footwork that seemingly sends sparks into the floor. But no matter what, she said, the movement in flamenco goes from “internal to external.” Sometimes, she added, “you’re twisted, like the branches of old trees.” She spiraled her back until her arms and fingertips curled above her head. “They start looking for different ways to keep growing. It’s about going beyond the limit of your body.”
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