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SEVILLE’S 2006 BIENAL DE FLAMENCO. ‘LA FRANCESA’,
PASTORA GALVÁN
The
new bailaora
Silvia Calado. Seville, September 16th,
2006
Translation: Joseph Kopec
‘La Francesa’. Pastora
Galván: baile. Israel Galván: choreography
director. Pedro G. Romero: artistic director. Pedro Sierra:
musical director and guitar. Miguel Iglesias: guitar. David
Lagos, Antonio Villar: cante. José Manuel Vaquero ‘El
Pájaro’: accordion and hurdy-gurdy. Álvaro
Ramos: contrabass, electric bass. José Carrasco: box
drum. Manuel Vergne: percussions. Belén Candil: stage
director. Seville's 14th Bienal de Flamenco 2006. Teatro Central.
Seville, September 16th, 2006. 9 p.m.
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Pastora Galván
(Photo: Daniel Muñoz) |
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Et voilà! The new bailaora is born.
Pastora
Galván has been incited to rebellion. And she's
rebelled. The moves, transfigured with design by Israel Galván.
The motif, conceived by Pedro G. Romero. Oh, but the bailaora,
the new bailaora... is her. With the idea of unmasking the
stereotype of Mérimée's ‘Carmen’
and that of so many other French writers as the background,
Pastora Galván faces ‘La Francesa’. And
she turns into not just an anti-Carmen, but also an anti-Amélie.
She makes a new woman be born... who can also be a bailaora.
Pastora Galván's work in this show
which she makes her début in is impressive. That which
is there behind the scenes, where she has stopped being just
a remarkable classical performer. And that which is there
up on stage, where, to begin with, she dances non-stop for
a little over an hour, a charge of effort and channeling of
energy which becomes yet another character in the show. It's
not just her sweat, but the upholding of the choreography
which is praiseworthy. Coming as it does authored by Israel
Galván, foreseen was its genius and provocation,
the (necessary) destructuring of the canon. It wasn't a disappointment.
But it is the performance of this complex script which is
courageously and, ultimately, successfully tackled by the
Sevillian artist.
Pastora Galván
(Photo: Daniel Muñoz)
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To all the dance technique and knowledge
she has absorbed since her childhood, she adds guts, internal
essences, something physical which rarely comes out on stage.
And she dances with mischief, rage, violence, vehemence, eroticism...
to the point of making dance a catharsis of every bailaora
and every woman, free at last. The role the music plays is
fundamental. Pedro
Sierra has crafted a soundtrack made from samples of all
kinds of music which have to do with flamenco, France, the
border between Gaul and Hispania. They're continuous intertwined
references which are at the same time fit into flamenco's
rhythmic structures. And the seams can't be seen; therein
lies the greatness. From Albéniz to Mikel Laboa, from
Cathy Claret to Django Reinhardt, from ‘Rien de rien’
to ‘Ná de ná’, from farruca to tangos,
from alegrías to bulerías, from Pedro Sierra
to Pedro Sierra and his album, ‘Nikelao’.
Accordion, hurdy-gurdy, second guitar by Miguel Iglesias,
contrabass and percussions provide the right tone for each
of the five ambiences in the show. And the Galván-style
freedom of action rubs off on the cante, especially in the
case of David
Lagos, singing in strange languages if necessary.
Pastora Galván evolves throughout
such bold piped-in music. Her old-time bailaora's hands, shoulders,
head and hips continue in place. But now she can also dance
on stiletto heels, do Zidane-style head butts, fight with
the bata's train, put on a moustache and act like a swordsman,
sing while dancing. Now she can also face up to the grotesque
and the tragicomic, not be afraid of ridicule, look beyond...
and be very, very brave.
‘Amador, Amador’.
Teatro Central, 11:30 p.m.
They're from Triana and they
return to Triana. The Amador family has the pleasure
of opening the doors of a reunion of the kind
you can only find at parties, to show their origin
and their idiosyncrasy. Their origin, in the seguiriya.
Their idiosyncrasy, in the fact that they're all
guitarist-cantaores, but especially in their musical
freedom. Raimundo
Amador is the standard-bearer. In spite of
blues and rock, he brandishes the guitar and makes
nearby potter's workshops tremble, whether it
is por seguiriyas or por bulerías del Gastor.
But if you have to use a pick, ‘Ay, José’.
That smile of his from ear to ear, the smile from
ear to ear of the crowd, who love him madly. And
Diego
Amador... who sings as deeply as that José,
who plays the piano magically, who strums the
guitar with flamencura. The taranta was a moment
of great art – on piano and on cante –
side by side with Juan
José Amador, finally a cantaor de alante
and the one "to blame" for the reunion.
First, he accompanied his cousin, as if he was
the better guitarist. Next, he accompanied himself.
Uncle Ramón was there; the third generation,
the flamenco ‘per se’. And Juan José's
son, who shows style and personality as a cantaor.
Too bad about the sound quality, which was pure
war. But the audience excused it. The Hotel Triana
courtyard wanted a grand finale and it had one,
following a performance exactly one hour long...
which didn't seem long enough.
Los Amador (Photo:
Daniel Muñoz)
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And tomorrow...
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Israel Galván
(Photo: Daniel Muñoz) |
‘Tabula rasa’,
Israel Galván. Teatro Central, 9 p.m.
Seville's 2006 Bienal closes bailaor Israel Galván's
‘retrospective’ with ‘Tabula
rasa’, a show where paradoxically, he dances
the silence of the cante by Lebrija-born Inés
Bacán and Sevillian pianist Diego Amador.
All the complexity of the Galván universe
in a special format.
Further information
Festival de Jerez 2006. ‘Tabula rasa’,
Israel Galván.
Review,
photos and online video.
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magazine@flamenco-world.com
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