The story of Salomé told as one of extreme love and vengeance. A director prepares a troupe of flamenco dancers for a performance. He summarizes the story and describes his spring for the drama's action: Salomé's attraction to John the Baptist. When the prophet rejects her, she seeks revenge. We meet the principals. We watch rehearsals, a dress rehearsal, and then the performance. The movie is both about the performance and about preparation for performance.

I'm getting really into these Saura dance movies. This one, however, I didn't much care for. It's pretty much just straight ballet, which as I've said before is a form that doesn't speak to me at all. I find it a very ineffective method of storytelling. I kind of get what people are doing and how they feel, but the "why" eludes me. I can't decode it, my brain just doesn't work that way. I need some narrative glue between the dances, or I need the dance to be more dynamic and exciting. However, I did enjoy the behind-the-scenes stuff in the first part, with dancers working out their moves, the "director" (actually an actor) giving guidance, the discussions of the music and staging. And the film is quite lovely, again utilizing a very spare soundstage and gorgeous lighting. It's just that ballet is so dull to me.