Pastora Galván, bailaora. Flamenco interview

“I don't want people to pigeonhole me along with
my brother Israel, nor as a Yerbabuena”

Carlos Sánchez. Seville, April 2006
Translation: Gary Cook

It runs in the family. Pastora Galván couldn't be anything other than a dancer. The daughter of bailaores José Galván and Eugenia de los Reyes, and sister of bailaor Israel Galván, carries on a long family tradition where flamenco dance reigns supreme. Aware of the difficulties that come with belonging to a family like the Galváns, the young Seville-born artist has a daily struggle to be herself. She doesn't want to copy or resemble anyone. An untiring workaholic, she tries to distance herself from the unfounded comparisons that surround her. Her style of dance brings together tradition and a fresh aroma of renovation. A firm admirer of her father and of her brother, she attempts to fuse both concepts of baile in an approach steeped in character, where hips and armwork are given the necessary emphasis.

	Pastora Galván (Photo: Daniel Muñoz)

You come from a family of outstanding flamenco dancers - were you destined to be one?

My father named me Pastora so I'd be a bailaora. My mother danced when she was pregnant with me. That could have had an influence. When I was just a year or two old I was already in my father's academy. Also since I was really little I used to go to the tablao La Trocha to see my parents dance. I'd fall asleep there in the dressing-rooms. Growing up in that environment I had to be a bailaora.

Can you be born a bailaora?

I don't think so. I think that you can be born with talent and force of will, but then you have to learn the technique. Maybe your genes make it easier for you to dance, but you aren't born with know-how. When people see me dance they tell me my arms seem a lot like those of my mother, and I never saw my mother dance professionally because she gave up when I was born. So I only saw her dance at the odd party. There are things that nature itself gives you, but you have to study and learn.

And is coming from a family like that an advantage or a burden?

On the one hand it's an advantage, but on the other it's a drawback. An advantage because you have it right there at home. Your parents give you pointers and advise you about what's better or worse. But at the same time, I have a fairly hard time because everybody associates me with my brother Israel Galván. And you know only too well that my dancing is nothing like his. Maybe there's a whiff of it, but that doesn't mean I dance just like him. We have to be alike in some way at least, because it's in our genes. There are even people that say to my brother that he too has my mother's arms. It makes me really mad when they tell me I'm the sister or daughter of so-and-so. Although I don't mind telling you that to me both my father and my brother are the best there are. But I'm also working for myself, and my name is Pastora.

Is it difficult for people to identify you by your own style?

Yeah. My style of dance has nothing to do with Israel's. When people see me, they change their opinion. On more than one occasion I've gone to perform and people thought I'd dance just like my brother. Later they've watched and they've realized that isn't the case. That's when I start to feel more relaxed. The fact that they associate me with him puts additional demands on me. My brother has reached a standard few can attain. I'm carving out my own path. Before making comparisons, you have to realize that I'm a woman and that my baile is feminine, which is really different to male dance. You can't compare us.

Did you ever feel pressured at home?

Sure. My father always demands a lot of me, and keeps a close eye on me too. For example, when I was little my father didn't let me skate for fear that I'd break my foot. And you know how it is: all the girls of my age in those days had skates. At the end of the day I'm grateful to him for that because I never broke my foot. But I didn't have a childhood like any other girl. At the age of ten they'd already signed me up at the conservatoire without my knowing. In other words in the morning I was going to school and in the afternoon to the conservatoire. I didn't even have time to play with dolls. It's really tricky when your family's so heavily into it. They've always got you under their thumb. Sometimes I've danced and my mother was the first to criticize me. I'm grateful to her because they're always sincere with me. But it's really hard to be brought up in a flamenco family. At least, it was in my case.

And now you're grateful for that?

I thank my father for everything he taught us and gave us. But I'd also have liked to play a little more and not have so many responsibilities from such an early age. I only hung around with people from the conservatoire. When I finished studying there I didn't have any friends.

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