Stirring bromance in ‘Torobaka’ from Akram Khan and Israel Galván
November 5 2014
Two dance forms, Kathak and Flamenco, and two of its brilliant exponents come together in this imaginative new work …
By Suman Bhuchar
THE AUDITORIUM at the Sadler’s Well is silent except for an expectant bit of coughing as the audience waits for artist and choreographer, Akram Khan to surprise and challenge his audience with another new piece.
This time, the Kathak trained dancer is collaborating with Israel Galván, a Seville based flamenco artist par excellence to see how the two traditions can create something new together.
On the face of it, it may be that while Kathak and flamenco have similar roots (flamenco came to Spain via India) most other collaborations have really focused on the fancy footwork.
“Torobaka” is essentially deconstructing both the dance forms, and what you see is a snap shot of the two artists working through their process, playing and enjoying a bromance.
The black stage is populated with five musicians sitting at the back, and the two dancers enter a round ring which is lit in a red hue (although this does change later) and you think it’s a bull ring where one is the matador and the other the bull.
Initially, both the performers are barefooted and they begin to perform short sequences clapping, moving and looping each other with their rhythmic footwork and shapes created by their hands (imitating animal shapes)
Later in the Post Show Q&A, they explain that “one brings a knife to the game while the other brings prayer beads,” meaning that flamenco is macho whilst Kathak is more spiritual with softer qualities.
Interestingly, Khan and Galván cannot communicate in a common verbal language but their dance vocabulary is complimentary.
In “Torobaka” – the term itself is a construction of ‘toro’ (bull) and ‘vaca’ (cow) both animals being sacred in different cultures – the artists have borrowed characteristics of these animals to illustrate the sacredness of their particular dance form.
The structure is that Khan and Galván perform a series of short pieces (duets and solos) which continue to create a pattern of movement and then they end up in a jugalbandi (meaning entwined twins in Hindi, and usually refers to an Indian classical music performance where two soloists play a duet and compete against each other).
There is a fantastically enjoyable moment where the musicians come and take over the stage – singing and performing flamenco – in an apparently spontaneous manner.
They swap styles and are having a musical conversation, which is at times confusing and at times bewitching.
ACV rating:****(out of five)
Main picture: Akram Khan and Israel Galván in ‘Torobaka’ by Jean Louis Fernandez
Akram Khan and Israel Galván performed at Sadlers Wells on Monday 3rd November. Music arranged and performed by David Azurza, BC Manjunath, Bobote, Christine Leboutte & Bernhard Schimpelsberger
Performances continue until Saturday, November 8, Sadler’s Wells, Rosebery Avenue, London EC1R 4TN
Tel:0844 412 4300
Ticket and booking information Sadler’s Wells
