Pastora Galván
Who is Pastora Galván?
Pastora Galván de los Reyes was born in Seville in 1980, daughter of the bailaor José Galván and sister of the bailaor and choreographer Israel Galván, considered one of the most avant-garde minds of contemporary flamenco. In her dance, as is often noted, the deep-rooted tradition of her family’s dancing coexists with the modernity inherited from her brother’s creative universe. She studied Spanish dance at the Conservatorio de Sevilla between 1990 and 1998, a period in which she had already begun performing professionally.
Career
Between 1995 and 1996 she traveled to the United States with the San Francisco Flamenco Theater Company and taught classes at Stanford University. She worked in leading tablaos such as Los Gallos in Seville — where she was under contract for two years — and El Cordobés in Barcelona, and shared the stage with artists such as Eva la Yerbabuena and Fernando Terremoto. In 2001 she won the “Matilde Coral” award at the XVI Concurso Nacional de Arte Flamenco de Córdoba. She has taken part in several editions of the Bienal de Sevilla with productions by Israel Galván, among them “Mira/Los zapatos rojos” (1998), “La Metamorfosis” (1999), “Galvánicas” (2002) and “La Francesa” (2006), the latter with artistic direction by Pedro G. Romero. She also collaborated with choreographer María Pagés on “La Tirana” and starred alongside her brother in “Dos Hermanos” (2004), which toured to festivals in Albuquerque, Argelès-sur-Mer and Havana.
Style
Her dance blends her family’s Roma tradition with avant-garde proposals, and she has taken that language to stages across Europe, Japan, Mexico, the United States, the Middle East and North Africa, in productions such as “La Diosa Blanca” (2005), alongside the cantaora Carmen Linares, and “Cuatro Esquinas,” with Miguel Poveda.
Legacy
In addition to her work as a performer, she has taught flamenco courses in the United States, Mexico, Greece, France and Poland, helping to spread abroad both classical dance and the more experimental currents that have emerged from her family’s environment.