XVI FESTIVAL DE NIMES – Inés Bacán, Israel Galván

“Inés
Bacán, Israel Galván”
Teatro de Nimes, France. January 25th, 2006. 8:30pm

Text: Estela Zatania

Even the names rhyme. And they have many other things
in common as well despite being from diametrically opposed
worlds: a middle-aged non-professional singer from the dynasty
of the Peña Pinini who intreprets cantes she’s
been hearing all her life with no sort of intellectualization,
and a young dancer from Seville, more creative than avant-garde,
highly professional from early on and who has perfected his
art by means of a process that is clearly cerebral. But they
are of the same species of rara avis flamenca which provokes
extreme reactions, everything except indifference.

The mystic goddess transmits
voices the rest of us cannot perceive

Inés Bacán with Antonio Moya accompanying,
“cante with guitar” as the younger generation
calls it to distinguish the absence of other instruments or
voices. The singer readies herself with closed eyes moving
into a sort of trance, gently swaying back and forth in her
seat. Instead of doing ‘palmas’ her right hand
waves gently about in the air as if directing an invisible
orchestra somewhere in her mind. Moya reads her body language
and adjusts his accompaniment with a perfection that can only
come from years of artistic collaboration and friendship with
Pedro Bacán, the singer’s brother who passed
away prematurely nine years ago and who was and continues
to be this guitarist’s mentor. The communication is
perfect although the audience doesn’t quite know how
to react to the singer’s eery mass por tientos. The
alegrías of Pinini sound more like moist earth than
sea spray and are neither “alegre” nor frivolous.
The soleá is pure Utrera and Lebrija done at a clip
with classic styles of La Moreno of soleá por bulería,
as well as styles of Juaniquí and Serneta in addition
to some personal creations although in actual fact, everything
this lady does could be classified as a “personal creation”.
The nearly total absence of vibrato in her voice, combined
with a strange and subtle dissonance creates a sensation of
painful solemnity that is not to the liking of all flamenco
fans but which for some is the key to the profound quality
Bacán’s voice transmits. Moya gives structure
and incorporates a Diego del Gastor sound which is quite apt
for this particular singer. Nanas, romances in the style of
the Peña family and siguiriyas, the mystic goddess
transmits voices the rest of us cannot perceive, bulerías
to close and an encore of tonás. Amen.

Both are of the same species
of rara avis flamenca that provokes extreme reactions

Israel Galván. Another free spirit hard to pin a label
on. Unique in the most literal sense of the word. An inquisitive
genius on stage, timid in person. With his work “Edad
de Oro” the dancer seems to have hit upon a balance
between the classic and the experimental with the occasional
bizarre touch he has us accustomed to in everything he does.
However at no point do you have the feeling he yearns to be
different at all costs. In fact it’s quite the contrary,
you watch his dancing and it’s clear these are purely
classical movements carried just a bit further, charicatured
at times, humor is just beneath the surface in this hermetic
work that some reviewers have called “perfect”.
Rondeña, soleá, malagueñas, siguiriya
danced without cante and you hardly notice, tientos and tangos,
surprising alegrías, as fresh as if being danced for
the first time… But the forms are irrelevant, everything
is “galvanerías” and the audience gets
the message loud and clear. I’m jotting down impressions
in my notebook without taking my eyes off Israel, some of
the dances don’t even last one minute and every second
is taken advantage of, not even the roller coaster at Port
Adventure provides higher emotion.

Israel Galván, Terremoto, Alfredo Lagos (photo:
Estela Zatania)

Israel Galván is one of the dancers who best dominates
the rhythm or ‘compás’, that prerequisite
for anyone wishing to swim in the great flamenco pool, and
his entire body becomes rhythm to such an extent that one
never notices the absence of percussion, voice or guitar in
those moments on his own. The technical command…footwork,
turns, placement…is impeccable and no one can accuse this
dancer of wanting to create without first learning the foundations.
And create he does, just as Carmen Amaya, Antonio Ruiz, Gades,
Mario Maya or that other enfant terrible Vicente Escudero
did in their respective days.

Taking it apart and putting it
back together, creating a style and showing us the way to
the future on a new evolutionary path in flamenco dance

The communication with Fernando Terremoto and Alfredo Lagos
is total and both the singer and the guitarist shine splendidly
via guitar and singing solos that trigger constant bursts
of oles. The bulerías fiesta finale is a far cry from
the typical insipid exercise we are all too often subjected
too. Israel pulls off the mother of all bulerías bits,
you wouldn’t expect anything less from this man, and
putting the final icing on the cake, sings for Lagos with
Terremoto’s accompaniment.

It’s quite posible the line of dance so masterfully
perfected by the Farruco family who perform at the Nimes theater
on Saturday and Sunday to close out the festival cannot be
taken any further. So here we have Israel Galván who
like a little boy with a new toy taking it apart and putting
it back together, is creating a style and showing us the way
to the future on a new evolutionary path in flamenco dance.

Related CDs:

Inés Bacán 'Pasión'