Pastora Galván

Daughter of José Galván, Pastora has in her blood the solera of the dances of her house and the modernity of the dance of her brother Israel Galván, genius of the most plausible avant-garde of flamenco. On the other hand, she is a bailaora of recognized prestige. Not in vain she won the prize 'Matilde Coral' of the XVI National Contest of Flamenco Art of Córdoba in 2001. She studied the Spanish Dance at the Conservatory of Seville between 1990 and 1998, a period in which she is already starting to make her first professional works . In 1995, at the age of 15, she travelled to the United States for the first time with the San Francisco Flamenco Theatre Company. The following year she taught short courses at Stanford University and performed in France with the Israel Galván Company.

Since then she has not stopped teaching and performing all over the world with different companies and as a solo dancer. She has presented her dance to the main Spanish theatres and tablaos, as well as to many cities in Europe, Japan, the United States, the Middle East, Cuba ... and of course, to the most important flamenco and dance festivals all over the world: Mont -de-Marsans in 2000; Montellano in 2002; the festival of the Corral del Carbón de Granada in 2003; Albuquerque, Argeles-sur-Mer and Monterrey (Mexico) in 2004; the 'Flamenco in the Sun' festival in Miami in 2005; Festival de Jerez in 2006, 'Andalucía Flamenca' (Madrid), 'Málaga en Flamenco', Montpellier Danse and the International Festival of Granada in 2007; 'Flamenco Festival' (USA) and Flamenco Biennial of the Netherlands in 2008; Nîmes and Jerez in 2009 ...

The Flamenco Biennial of Seville deserves special attention for having invited Pastora to dance in all its editions since 1998, when she participated in the work Mira / Los zapatos rojos by Israel Galván. The collaboration with her brother continued in La Metamorfosis (2000), Galvánicas (2002), with the guitarist Gerardo Núñez and Dos Hermanos (2004). Although the latter was not presented at the festival, that year we could see it in different shows, one of them with the singer Chano Lobato. The biggest challenge in her career, however, came at the 2006 Biennial: on September 16 she premiered La Francesa, a show where she appears as an absolute star of the dance, representing 5 choreographies created by Israel Galván especially for her and with artistic direction by Pedro G. Romero. 

La Francesa was taken to the stages of the important events such as the Festival Andalucía Flamenca in Madrid, organized by the Andalusian Agency for the Development of Flamenco, the Festival de Jerez, the International Festival of Granada and the Montpellier Danse. The success was resounding: the public and the specialized critic unanimously acclaimed the work. When Pastora returned to Seville with La Francesa in 2008, to the Sala Joaquín Turina, she left everyone with the mouth open. In the last edition of 2008, she performed with Israel Galván as guest artists in the show Three movements of Pedro Sierra. This year she participated, together with Carmen Linares, Miguel Poveda and the guitarist Juan Carlos Romero in Cuatro Esquinas, a work created for the Flamenco Festival, which was represented in various cities in the United States. And she 'conquered' new territories with her Flamenco Painting, which led to the Spring Festival in Cairo and Beirut. Throughout her career she has worked with great artists such as Eva Yerbabuena, Fernando Terremoto, "La Susi", Niño de Pura, María Pagés, José Luis Rodríguez, Arcángel, Joaquín Grilo, "La Tobala", Pedro Sierra ...

Due to its special significance we can point out her collaborations with Carmen Linares in La Diosa Blanca, a show performed exclusively by women and in Las mujeres en el flamenco, both in 2005. Or Los Grandes (2007), a work for which Antonio Canales brought together young flamenco artists. Currently she collaborates with the pianist and composer David Peña Dorantes in his show Piano Flamenco. Her restless spirit and immeasurable energy continuously lead her to new projects and artistic adventures. As in her last works: a single entitled Estudio for the innovative Flamenc Empiric festival at El Mercat de les Flors in Barcelona and her new show Pastora, premiered at the Festival de Jerez 2009 with great success and endorsed at the XVI Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla 2010 where she won the Giraldillo prize for the most innovative show, with choreography by Israel Galván, where tradition and avant-garde coexist in a natural way; without forgetting her participation as a guest artist in shows like Flamenco Hoy, directed by Carlos Saura or Cuando Lebrijano Canta Se Moja El Agua, by El Lebrijano.