Gala Évora (born 8 February 1983) is a Spanish singer and actress who has recorded a number of hit songs and received two of her country's top acting nominations for her leading role in the 2007

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

, ''Lola''.

Family tradition

A native of the southern

Andalucía Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

n town of

Sanlúcar de Barrameda Sanlúcar de Barrameda (), or simply Sanlúcar, is a city in the northwest of Cádiz province, part of the autonomous community of Andalucía in southern Spain. Sanlúcar is located on the left bank at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River oppos ...

Cádiz province Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, w ...

, Gala Évora was born into an artistic family (the Sanlúcar Évoras) with a long tradition in the world of entertainment. Her father, José Miguel Évora, is a music producer, and the guitar artist

Manolo Sanlúcar Manolo Sanlúcar (born Manuel Muñoz Alcón, 24 November 1943 – 27 August 2022) was a Spanish flamenco composer and guitarist. He was considered one of the most important Spanish composers of recent times, and together with Paco de Lucía, T ...

is her uncle. At the age of eight, she made her film debut, playing a small, unbilled role in ''El día que nací yo'', a 1991 vehicle for star Isabel Pantoja.

Performing career

She has performed as a member of the pop group Papá Levante and was a chorus member for headliner singers such as

Carmen Linares Carmen Pacheco Rodríguez (Born in 1951 in Linares, Jaén), better known by her stage name Carmen Linares, is one of the finest flamenco singers in Spain. She belongs to the best generation of flamenco artists with Paco de Lucía, Camarón ...

Enrique Morente Enrique Morente Cotelo (25 December 1942 – 13 December 2010), known as Enrique Morente, was a flamenco singer (in Spanish, cantaor) and a celebrated figure within the world of contemporary flamenco. After his orthodox beginnings, he plunged in ...

, Camarón de la Isla and

Falete Rafael Ojeda Rojas (born 1978 in Seville), better known as Falete (), is a Spanish flamenco singer. Biography Falete's father was a founding member of the musical group Cantores de Híspalis. At the age of 17, he made his debut at the Teatr ...

. At the end of 2000, her own debut album with the group, ''Tomalacaté'', with hit songs ''Me pongo colorada'' and ''Practicar sexo'' sold over a quarter of a million copies and was listed as a contender for the highest-grossing Spanish album of the year. In 2001, Papá Levante was awarded Premio Ondas as the best new Spanish music group and her performances in their 2003 album, ''Sopla levante'', with its two noted singles, "Comunicando" and "Gorda" also met with success, as did the 2005 album, ''Pa ti, pa mí'', with the hit first single, "Chiquilla". Her first solo album, ''Agua y luz'', includes six songs by Carlos Sanlúcar, and versions covered by Salif Keita, Quique González, Lila Downs and Luis Pastor. The album begins with "Al otro lado del mundo" and includes "Tengo un amor", "Sabré que eres tú" and "Agua de rosas", composed for Lila Downs'

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

album, while "Quiero volar" is a blend of

flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

rhythms. In 2007, Gala Évora was cast in the title role of Miguel Hermoso's film, ''Lola'', a biographical portrait of Spain's famed

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

singer, dancer and actress Lola Flores,Gala Évora as Lola Flores in a ''youtube'' clip
/ref> which gained her a Goya, Spain's equivalent of the Oscar, nomination as Mejor Actriz Revelación est New Actressand a Spanish Cinema Writers Circle Awards nomination as Premio Revelación est New Artist The film has played at a number of European venues and was chosen as the opening entry at the

Málaga Film Festival The Málaga Film Festival, formerly Málaga Spanish Film Festival (FMCE), is an annual film festival held in Málaga, Spain. The festival was established to promote Spanish cinema and help disseminate information about Spanish films. Since 2017, ...

. The following year she was chosen for a role in Pilar Távora's film adaptation of Santiago Escalante's play ''Madre amadísima''.

Discography as Papá Levante member

*''Tomalacaté'', 2000 *''Sopla Levante'', 2003 *''Pa Ti Pa Mí'', 2005

Filmography

*''El día que nací yo'', 1991 *''Lola'', 2007 *''Madre Amadísima'', 2010

References

Notes

Sources

*Rolfe, Pamela. "Orphanage 'Roses' lead Goya noms". ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (18 December 2007)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Evora, Gala 1983 births Living people Spanish actresses People from Sanlúcar de Barrameda 21st-century Spanish singers 21st-century Spanish women singers 21st-century Spanish actresses