La Curva
Israel Galvan
Opera House, Wellington
Until March 2
Israel Galvan has been aptly called the Nijinsky of flamenco.
Like Nijinsky, he is a magnificent dancer and a revolutionary choreographer.
La Curva is an extraordinary production in which Galvan deconstructs traditional flamenco and dances to a fusion of traditional Spanish folk music and a contemporary piano score. On stage with him and making the evening a delight for the ears as well as the eyes, is the Swiss jazz and contemporary music pianist, Sylvie Courvoisier, percussionist Bobote and acclaimed Andalusian Gypsy singer Ines Bacan. You can forget any other flamenco you may have seen. This is something else. It is a soul collaboration.
Galvan is a superb dancer. Whatever position he assumes, his body forms an effortless, perfect line. His zapateados (rhythmical footwork) are incredibly, beautifully fast. His musicality is supreme. Just as Courvoisier uses all the parts of her piano for sound, Galvan uses every part of himself as a percussive conduit – his head, chest, clothing, even his teeth. When these are not enough, he attacks the table, the chairs, the floor. His choreography uses gestures and movements more often associated with female flamenco dancers to great effect. There are lightning-fast spins and heart-stopping, arrested movements. His hands stab, twist and flutter.
Certain images will linger long in the memory. Galvan upturning a table on its side, the two legs pointing directly towards him, as he stands, arms raised facing it like a matador. Or is he the bull For a moment, the table came alive. Or again, dancing up a storm of chalk dust, stamping in its midst as it covered his face, arms and legs. Throughout the evening, there was the treasure of Bacan’s soaring, lamenting voice, deep as the earth and totally true. Accompanying her, Bobote uses his own voice to call, clap and strike the table, urging her and Galvan to even greater intensity.
Tuned in to them all, Courvoisier is brilliant. Her textured, intensely dramatic playing is exhilarating.
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