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SEVILLE’S 2006 BIENAL DE FLAMENCO. PREMIERE: ‘LA
FRANCESA’
Pastora Galván
makes her solo début at Seville’s
Bienal with the show ‘La Francesa’
Carlos Sánchez. Seville, August
2006
The
2006 Festival Bienal de Sevilla: program / ticket sales
After taking part in the shows ‘Mira/Los zapatos
rojos’ (1998), ‘La Metamorfosis (2000) and Galvánicas
(2002), young bailaora Pastora
Galván makes her solo début at Seville’s
2006 Bienal de Flamenco with ‘La Francesa’. The
show, with choreography by Israel Galván and artistic
directing by Pedro G. Romero, is to premiere September 16th
at the Teatro Central in Seville on the occasion of the Sevillian
festival’s fourteenth edition.
‘La Francesa’ is the title of a show which in
the words of its artistic director, Pedro G. Romero, “is
about the building of the flamenco woman, the rough-and-tough
bailaora, a replica of characters such as the ‘Carmen’
of Prosper Mérimée himself, Conchita from ‘La
mujer y el pelele’ by Pierre Louys and Militona from
‘La maja y el torero’ by Théophile Gautier.
‘La Francesa’ is a psychological approximation
to this stereotype which has become part of our character
and destiny. It’s a literary invention, a ghost and
a fantasy but also a typological portrait which our cantaoras
and bailaoras have endeavored to personify time and again,
not just on stage but also in their lives”.
In this new show, one of the few premieres in the present
edition of the huge event in Seville, Pastora Galván
tries to capture with her baile the image the French have
of Spanish women. “I try to reflect several ways of
being. I’m not going to present the ‘Carmen’
everybody expects, with that form of seduction. I try to express
these sorts of concepts in a more current way, with more exaggerated
moves”, the young bailaora explains.
Choreography by Israel Galván
To do so, the Sevillian artist has had choreographic directing
by her brother, the also bailaor Israel
Galván. According to Pedro G. Romero, “Pastora
Galván’s relationship with her brother Israel,
this show’s choreographer, has been soothing. There
was no room between the two siblings for the tricks of modern
theater. The nuclear fusion of their work was about to make
‘La Francesa’ explode on several occasions. An
implosion of filial love. But this cainism has worked here
as a curious method of isolation, yet another dramatic tool”.
The young bailaora admits that the process of putting together
this new show has been very hard. “It’s been really
hard for me to adapt to the concepts my brother wanted. He’s
on a higher level and he’s played with me to my limits.
My brother has done the staging but he hasn’t gotten
into the personality of my baile, into my way of dancing.
It’s been too complicated work for me, but I’m
really happy with the result. I think this work has enriched
me a lot as a bailaora. I really like this show because it’s
been a challenge both personally and professionally”.
‘La Francesa’ is presented as a sort of musical,
where everything is tied together and there are no cuts in
the middle. For this show, the Sevillian artist has guitarist
Pedro
Sierra as musical director. The Catalan artist will be
accompanied by Miguel Iglesias on guitar. The cante will be
attended to by the voices of David Lagos and Antonio Zúñiga.
The cast of artists is completed by José Manuel Vaquero
‘El Pájaro’ (accordion and hurdy-gurdy),
Álvaro Ramos (contrabass and electric bass) and José
Carrasco (box drum).
magazine@flamenco-world.com
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