Israel Galván

Israel Galván Reyes (born 1973 in Seville) is a Spanish flamenco dancer (bailaor) and choreographer. He grew up learning and dancing with his father, the dancer José Galván, and his mother, Eugenia Reyes.

He became a celebrity in flamenco thanks to his dancing steps with complicated feet movements, showing rapid-fire footwork punctuated by moments of stillness and silence. His art is a kind of avantgarde flamenco. He has been awarded several dance prizes.

Career In 1994 he joined the Compañia Andaluza de Danza directed by Mario Maya, and over the next decade won just about every top flamenco prize possible, including the Giradillo prize at Seville's flamenco Biennal, the Flamenco Hoy critics’ award for best dancer of the year, which he received in both 2001 and 2005. In the same year he also won Spain's national dance prize for the creative renewal of the Flamenco and in 2008 Premio Ciutat de Barcelona. Also in 2014, Israel Galván published his work "FLA.CO.MEN". On his website it is said to be a concert. In this piece, Galván deconstructs the flamenco and reunites it humorously. The music is partly free jazzy to experimental, but also traditional. Premios Max is the most important theatre award in Spain. In 2014, Israel Galván won the award in the 3 categories Coreografía, Interpretación and Espectáculo for his work 'Lo Real'. In 2015 he won the award in the category Bailarín Principal in his work FLA.CO.MEN. Rocío Molina and Olga Pericet also won the award. On 6 May 2017 Israel Galván performed the world premiere of "La Fiesta" in the Austrian city St. Pölten. In this creation nine dancing voices and singing bodies meet and give themselves in high notes to the energy of their meeting. In 2021, during a dialogue with theatre scholar Octavian Saiu, Galván said that he always wanted to be a dancer. He mentioned that he could still remember the "smell of the night" from the first flamenco show that he watched as a child.

Awards

1995: Premio Vicente Escudero 2004: Premio Flamenco Hoy 2004: Giraldillo 2005: Premio Nacional de Danza 2005: Premio Flamenco Hoy 2006: Premio Flamenco Hoy 2006: Giraldillo 2007: Premio Ciutat de Barcelona Dansa 2008: Giraldillo 2009: Gran Prix de la Danse 2009: Madroño Flamenco 2011: Premio Max de las artes escénicas 2012: Medalla de oro de las Bellas Artes 2012: Bessie Award (USA) 2012: Premios Max 2014: Premis de la Crítica 2014: Premios Max 2014: Premio Flamenco Hoy 2015: Medalla de Andalucía 2015: National Dance Awards (UK) 2015: Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France) 2015: Premios Max 2015: Designación por parte de la UNESCO para la realización del Manifiesto Oficial del Día Internacional de la Danza (29 April) 2015: Premio de la Crítica 2015: Clavel de la Prensa 2016: Critics' Circle National Dance Award: Special award for exceptional artistry