Israel Galván and the Escolania de Montserrat reinterpret ‘El baile de los seises’

In Seville's cathedral, ten children in traditional 16th-century clothing perform a traditional dance three times a year.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
30 June 2022 Thursday 02:10
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Israel Galván and the Escolania de Montserrat reinterpret ‘El baile de los seises’

In Seville's cathedral, ten children in traditional 16th-century clothing perform a traditional dance three times a year. It is The dance of the sixes because, originally, there were six. When he was a child, Israel Galván was "a little scared" of this dance, but one fine day he came back, noticed how they danced and from there came Seises, the show that will be seen on July 2 and 3, in three performances , at the Mercat de les Flors, within the Grec programme.

The flamenco dancer does not like "dancing with other people", but for the occasion he will be accompanied by the Escolania de Montserrat, a harpsichord, a piano, a reader... "The castanets as they are played in Seville, he did not want them, but he did like the Seises play them –declares the dancer–. And Scarlatti's harpsichord, which is like a guitar, was the music he was looking for. A cantaor or a cantaora didn't convince me either. So I thought of a choir like the one at the choir. At every new show, I steal things.”

The director of the Escolania de Montserrat, Llorenç Castelló, relates how he received the commission: “I told him that there were many children's choirs in Catalonia, but that the Escolania was religious. He told us that everything was closely linked and that we should make a musical proposal without leaving our channels. The proposal surprised us, but it motivated us a lot. We have combined a bit of popular repertoire and traditional repertoire, from here”. Among the pieces that they will sing, they will hear Nigra sum, by Pau Casals, or Pie Jesu, by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

“The children are in the moment of their voice –says Galván–, it is a moment of truth and that is why I also have to do it for real. What I try to do is accompany them with my dance and the noise I make. I dance without boots, which is less noise”.

The dancer also includes Lorca's love poetry and the suffering of the martyrs: “I will try to make a very strong zapateao. Helena Astolfi puts the voice, that I do not speak well. I heard her one day when she was with me in the car and it sounded like the voice of a radio program”. The reader confesses that she also dances in Seises, in her case, hip-hop.

The result won't have much to do with the original Six Dance, but it all draws from the same spiritual sources.