UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance (CAP UCLA) presents Israel Galván in Maestro de Barra on Saturday, March 6 at 7pm PT through CAP UCLA Online. This free performance was commissioned by CAP UCLA and is presented in association with UCSB’s Arts & Lectures and The Joyce Theater.
During this past year, Galván has sought to ‘servir el baile’ (serve the dance) by finding other spaces to ‘Seguir Bailando’ (keep on dancing) until a semblance of normalcy is returned. Maestro de Barra (Master of the Bar) comes from Galván’s attention to the spontaneous music and dance culture associated with cafes and bars worldwide. As theaters remain closed, it feels in tune with this moment in time.
Known for his ability to transform his body into an instrument and for his hypersensitive ear, Galván will prove his ability to “hear” the air of public spaces. His body will amplify their internal rhythms, pauses and silences, using them as the score and to point out that everything one can hear, can also be danced to. Sounds can be ordered, accompanied and understood as a rhythmic vibration that can be translated into movement.
One of the world’s leading flamenco artists, Israel Galván was described by The Evening Standard as “achieving the near-impossible feat of embodying flamenco’s ‘duende,’ or demon, while avoiding clichés.” His lightning-fast and passion-fueled dancing scorches the stage wherever he performs and he has reinvented flamenco for a new generation. Galván constantly surprises and pushes boundaries both with his solo work and in collaboration with such diverse artists as flamenco masters Enrique Morente and Mauel Soler, contemporary choreographer Akram Kahn and jazz great Pat Metheny. Galván is also featured in a Netflix docuseries about dance called Move.
photos © Luis Castilla Fotografia
