More Media Attention for Israel and Pastora Galván and Pasión y Arte's Nuevo Flamenco: The Galván Legacy

Pasión y Arte's 2014 Flamenco Festival has come to an end, but the positive reviews keep pouring in—especially for the star performers of the Center-funded festival centerpiece, Nuevo Flamenco: The Galván Legacy, siblings Israel and Pastora Galván. Recent media attention includes features in the Philadelphia Inquirer, New York Times, and The New Yorker.

For the Philadelphia Inquirer, Nancy G. Heller reviews Pastora Galván's performances of Pastora on March 13 and 14: "It's not easy being the sister of an avant-garde flamenco dance superstar. But Thursday night at Drexel University's Mandell Theater, Pastora Galván demonstrated her own dramatic and rhythmic chops, versatility, and technical skill in a postmodern piece created for her by that sibling: Israel Galván." Read more >

Heller also praises the artistry of Israel Galván's La Curva: "At its core, La Curva confirms Galván's love and respect for the twin pillars of traditional flamenco: cante (flamenco singing) and compás (rhythm). Besides, only a dancer thoroughly trained in traditional flamenco technique could do what Galván does. Not that anyone else could do what Galván does." Read more >

In a New York Times review of Galván's performance of La Curva at the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts in New York City, Brian Seibert writes, "Mr. Galván has long pushed flamenco flamboyance past the level of absurdity. [...] Like other flamenco dancers, he twists and folds his body into shapes of extreme tension and angularity, but he goes further, adding pelvic action you might associate more with Bob Fosse or Michael Jackson, and glamorous arm work that might be borrowed from vogueing." Read more >

At The New Yorker, Joan Acocella profiles Israel Galván, in the context of the "globalization" of the flamenco art form: "A leader of the upstarts is Israel Galván. [...] He is a truly breathtaking virtuoso. No one on the stage today can best him in speed or precision." Read more >

Read additional news coverage of Pasión y Arte's 2014 Flamenco Festival >