ISRAEL GALVÁN. ‘ARENA’

“My aim is to make people believe
there's a bull standing between art and death”

Carlos Sánchez. Jerez, September 2004

Walter Benjamin claimed that “there is no document of civilization that is not at the same time a document of barbarism.” And this is the attitude which Israel Galván adopts toward the bullfight, an age-old theme in flamenco choreographic production, but which he hopes to give a new twist, in terms of both form and content. ‘Arena’ the bailaor's new offering, to be premièred on 3rd October 2004 at Teatro Maestranza in his home town of Seville, as part of the program for the 13th Festival Bienal de Flamenco. Enrique Morente, Miguel Poveda, Diego Carrasco and Diego Amador are the special guests who come to the aid of this ‘matador’ of movement.

Israel Galván premières his new production ‘Arena’ at the 2004 edition of Seville's Biennial Flamenco Festival. The show comprises six choreographed pieces whose mission is to revamp flamenco's ongoing love affair with the bullfight, in terms of both form and content. To achieve this aim, he takes some fresh angles on the matter at hand. First and foremost, he wants to put away any pro- or anti-bullfighting positions, focusing instead on the activity and the bull itself; what he's interested in is the nature of the performance that occurs in the bullring rather than the taking of sides in order to pass judgment on the ritual of the bullfight. Just as Bergamín did before him, he takes an interest in the proportions, the geometry, the time lapses, the number of players… thus abstracting himself from the more immediate meanings - the blood, the traditions and the traditional image the bullfight conjures up. Here the arena is transformed into a blackboard on which solutions are drawn up to mathematical problems, physical paths of motion, chemical formulae, life and death itself.

Israel Galván

Of course this doesn't mean he casts aside the fundamental concepts associated with the event. Death can't be avoided. The sixth: number six is dark, a dark piece that provides a representation of death in the ring. And of violence, danger, bravery, pain, color... Israel Galván's fight is to achieve exactly what the bullfight aims to achieve - to put death into the context of a show. He admits that “the bull is always present. What happens, though, is that you don't see it. My aim is to make people believe there's a bull standing between art and death.”

Whilst direct references to the bullfight abound in these sketches (readings of Juan Belmonte, Lorca's musings on Sánchez Mejías, José Bergamín, Michael Leiris, Pablo Picasso, Víctor Gómez Pin, Pepe Luis Vázquez, Ordóñez and the Ronda school of bullfighting, Luis Bollaín's books, Orson Welles's passion for the bullfight, Goya's reported enthusiasm too...), this is by no means a reenactment of the bullfight. There's no attempt to imitate the bull's or the bullfighter's steps, nor to mimic this or that aspect of the art of bullfighting. There's no attempt to capture the essence of the event, rather the aim is to depict its purpose. The techniques involved in the art of bullfighting and what the art of flamenco dance can gain from them - but viewed from a new angle. Galván draws his inspiration from Belmonte's bullfighting technique. The bailaor Sevillano admits that “this matador's bullfighting has taken my dance forward by showing me places I never expected to get to.”

But to reach that point, he had to really immerse himself in the culture of the fight. All the more so considering that, for one reason or another, the bailaor had a very vague notion of what the bullfight was, in spite of its evident close links with flamenco creation. This proximity is something that he's exploited to make this new phase in the reinvention of flamenco dance choreography a reality: immersion in the most ingrained traditions, in order to emerge with new sketches, new steps, new flamenco forms. Opening up the scope, not only of flamenco dance, but also of the art of bullfighting. “After doing shows that are outside of the scope of flamenco, like ‘La Metamorfosis’, I wanted to do something different. This show is more flamenco. The bull has always been a central figure in flamenco. It's another challenge for me. But I approached it from the angle I liked best. Of course it's an enormous pressure to have to perform it for the first time at the Festival Bienal de Sevilla, I just want to make sure I don't get too stressed. Designing a show is really complicated, it takes a lot of patience and dedication,” the dancer explains.

The six sketches

	Enrique Morente

‘Arena’ consists of six individually choreographed pieces. The single common denominator is the context of the bullfight. Whilst the only dancer is Israel Galván, the artist from Seville points to “several elements that, along with the music, add weight to the production”. The introduction, interludes and ending are all in the capable hands of none other than cantaor Enrique Morente. The first piece, entitled ‘Bailador’, features special guest Miguel Poveda. In ‘Granaíno’, the second, he's backed by the Orquesta Joven de Andalucía's percussion section. The third, ‘Pocapena’, introduces pipers in the form of Las Gaitas del Gastor. The bulls to-ing and fro-ing, to the beat of a ‘bulería de Jerez’. ‘Burlero’, the fourth piece, sees an appearance from special guest Diego Carrasco. And another change of pace sees a seguiriyas piece - ‘Playero’ featuring the piano of Diego Amador. In ‘Preludio de Cantinero’, the last choreographed piece inspired by the paintings of Pablo Picasso, there's a contribution from the band Los Sones. Besides the guest artists, many other musicians take part - Alfredo Lagos (guitar), José Anillo (cante), Isaac Vigueras (percussion), Bobote and Eléctrico (palmas), and Mercedes Bernal (pipes - Gaitas del Gastor). And the less-than-orthodox bailaor steps into the ring with them all, ready to face a new challenge.

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