The Conde Duque Cultural Centre will host the première in Madrid of the latest dance show by the flamenco dancer and choreographer, Israel Galván, on 7 and 8 June in which he combines flamenco with Stravinsky’s score, challenging the norms of the genre, subverting and reconstructing tradition.
Israel Galván is one of the world’s most innovative dancers and choreographers, born into a family of flamenco dancers in Seville and trained in classical flamenco from an early age. Today, he continues to research, surprise and re-evaluate all the possibilities of flamenco. Inspired by a wide range of themes, such as bullfights, the football culture and film images, Galván has rebuilt the language of flamenco.
On this occasion, fascinated by the silhouettes of the Russian dancer, Vaslav Nijinski, Galván mixes flamenco with the well known score by Stravinsky. Accompanied on stage by the pianists, Daria van den Bercken and Gerard Bouwhuis, Galván uses his body as an instrument consumed by the rhythm of Stravinsky’s score. In the score’s percussion, Galván identifies a flamenco soul that comes to the stage in the form of a solo with two pianos.
From the very first note, the music goes to the ritual, changes the energy on stage and generates a kind of trance. The choreography is precise and primitive. After this whirlwind, the calmer cadence of Scarlatti's Sonata K87 and Frederic Rzewski's post-classical Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues takes over. They both offer the perfect counterpoint to Stravinsky's telluric force.
Finally, Israel Galván closes the performance with a joyful tribute to his home town, with an 18th century Sevillana.
Artistic File:
- Artistic Director and Choreographer: Israel Galván
- Cast: Israel Galván (dance, Daria van den Bercken, Gerard Bouwhuis (piano)
- Music: The Rite of Spring Igor Stravinsky
- Reduction for piano with four hands: Sonata K87, by Domenico Scarlatti; Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues, by Frederic Rzewski and an 18th century Sevillana
- Sound: Pedro León and Félix Vázquez
- Lighting: Benito Jiménez and Valentin Donaire
- Wardrobe: Micol Notarianni
- Technical Director: Pedro León STAGE MANAGER Balbi Parra
- Management: Rosario Gallardo
- Distribution: Rial & Eshelman
- Associate Production: Galván Company
- Co-production: Théâtre de la Ville – Paris, Sadler’s Wells (London), Mû Lausanne, Théâtre de Nîmes, Scène conventionnée d’intérêt national – art et création – Danse contemporaine, Teatro della Pergola – Fondazione Teatro della Toscana –(Florence), MA scène nationale – Pays de Montbéliard and Théâtre de Vidy Lausanne
- In collaboration with: INAEM- National Institute of Performing Arts and Music, La Loterie Romande, Pro Helvetia, Swiss Foundation for the Canton de Vaud culture, Leenaards Foundation and Flamenco Biënnale Nederland
- Image Credit - © Filippo Manzini
Approximate Duration: 70 minutes
Recommended Age: Over the age of 8
