Israel Galvan conjures a new form of flamenco

This is flamenco as you’ve never seen it before, nor will again unless you see Israel Galvan again.

Israel Galvan has injected new life into flamenco. Picture: Tony Lewis

This is flamenco as you’ve never seen it before, nor will again unless you see Israel Galvan again. His technique is thrilling, his imagination white hot and his audacity boundless. He leaps, strikes angular poses, uses his arms in sweeping gestures and angular formations, his hands move so fast they become a blur, matching the speed of his feet as they beat the floor.

The onstage band of percussion, violin, two guitars, saxophone and a plaintive woodwind are supplemented by a white ceramic boot that the dancer turns into a blown musical instrument for a while, before dashing it into pieces on the floor for no apparent ­reason. He plays the two bass drums with his feet and even his head. More successful is his duet with percussionist Antonio ­Moreno on timpani. Later both dancer and timpanist beat out rhythms on their bare chests.

The heart of flamenco is song, and singers David Lagos and Tomas de Perrate are passionate, occasionally humorous, ­always expressive. At different times they each sit on the stage edge, taking the audience into their ­confidence.

Galvan gets right down into the audience, giving a close-up performance to some lucky people in the front row. Some of his party tricks don’t work, but his originality and his dancing itself has injected new life into flamenco.

FLA.CO. MEN. Israel Galvan. Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide. March 9