Israel Galván ' La Edad de Oro', con Arcángel y Alfredo Lagos – Cajasol

Text: Gonzalo Montaño Peña
Photos: Remedios Malvarez

Baile: Israel Galván, Cante: Arcángel, Guitarra: Alfredo Lagos

The series Jueves Flamenco de Cajasol closed this week with Israel Galván’s show “La Edad de Oro”.  Galván is is the eternal iconoclast, prodigy and caricature of this art-form, and has, in only a few years, become a classic.

Many people find not a shred of flamenco in his work, however, from my point of view, what was presented last night was quite a rundown of flamenco cante, guitar and dance of high quality interpreted by three young artists who are present and future heavyweights of this artform.

With a packed theater, you could feel the complicity between the audience and the dancer even before the curtain went up.  The staging was minimal, three chairs and nothing more, in keeping with the “Edad de Oro” or golden age of flamenco when few props were used.

A repertoire of fourteen cantes, from pregrón to malagueña, passing through soleá, siguiriya, farruca, martinete and the bulería fiesta finale.  In actual fact it was only small tidbits in each case, but that was all that was needed to pinpoint the character of each form.

Galván is now a universally recognized artist, with his own language now mostly understood and appreciated by the general public.  His every move is answered with “ole”, every twist and turn, every cubist pose.  The people love his sense of humor.  And this particular show is well-broken-in as he has been touring the world with it for several years, although that doesn’t close the door to improvisation since his rhythmic capacity and knowledge allow him to react to the moment.

There were some memorable moments…in the soleá, tangos de Triana, farruca…  His concept of accompanying the cante and his footwork phrasing are impressive, although his dancing has become so installed in the public eye that he even has followers and imitators, and this might indicate the need for some rethinking.

The show makes room for both cante and guitar as soloists.  Alfredo Lagos, without a doubt one of the best guitarists of the current scene, plays with clean sound, good rhythm and tender loving care, rich in harmonic concepts and dialogue with the cante.  He knew how to put the guitar in just the right place, with elegance and musicality.

Arcángel’s voice, although in many ways, both aesthetically and conceptually, the antithesis of Fernando Terremoto’s, the original singer for this show, was able to adapt to the work and leave his mark, because this singer has a strong artistic personality.  His best moment was in a tribute to Terremoto in the malagueña de Mellizo where he polished up the cante with exquisitely sweet gemlike details.

Overall it was a fine recital with moments of greatness from each of the three performers who once again demonstrated that the Seville audience is enthralled with their dancer.  But will Galván be able to push the envelope even further?  Let’s hope so.