Israel Galván slinks on to the stage from the open wings and stands in profile, head slightly tilted, arms held away from his sides, wrists flexed, hands flat, like a figure on the side of a Greek vase. Or like Vaslav Nijinsky in one of his most famous roles in L’Après-midi d’un faune.
In white ankle boots and a long, loose black shirt, one leg is covered in shorts, the other in a stocking. Then he begins to move, stamping and sliding his feet in an intricate response to the two exceptional pianists – Daria van den Bercken and Gerard Bouwhuis – who are improvising on two grand pianos on the opposite side of the stage. Microphoned platforms of different surfaces and the innards of an upright piano that Galván casually kicks with a flicked foot are the other elements of the scene.
