In recent bold moments, Galician singer Luz Casal and dancer Blanca Li were honored with France’s prestigious Order of Arts and Letters, a recognition that underscores decades of impact in music and dance. The awards celebrated their artistic journeys and the enduring influence they have carried across borders into the cultural landscape of France and beyond.
Casal, who will head to the stage this coming July 28 for a concert as part of the Magical Nights at the San Juan Festival, confirmed to Paris media that the headline show feels both grateful and thrilling. It also comes with a sense of responsibility. The renowned Spanish rock icon recently released her seventeenth album, windows of my soul, a collection that she chose to dedicate to the country that has long welcomed her. France now presents her with one of its highest honors as a gesture of lasting appreciation for her contributions to music and performance.
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When conversations surface about cultural support in France versus Spain, Casal dismissed the idea of direct comparisons. She pointed to two vibrant concerts in Barcelona and A Coruña, highlighting how live audiences remind artists why they create in the first place. The spirit of those performances echoed through the medal ceremony, where the medallists received their insignia from the French Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul Malak, who praised Casal and Li for their artistic influence and their ties to France.
The minister recalled Casal’s memorable performance of the song Think of Me, a moment that drew goosebumps for many. It was noted that Casal achieved a rare milestone in Paris by filling La Cigale with five consecutive shows in 1998, a feat no other Spanish artist has matched in that venue.
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Appreciation for Blanca Li, who hails from Grenade in southern Spain, emphasized how the dancer blends body and heart in her art. Li rose through Madrid’s Movida era in the eighties and built a career across New York and Paris. Her ties to France were reinforced when she joined the French Academy of Fine Arts in 2019. France has long been a pillar for Li yet Spain remains the foundation of her art and life, from her childhood to her current role as director of Teatros del Canal in Madrid.
Li described herself as deeply proud to be both Spanish and a touch French, a reflection she shared while discussing the significance of the honors. She expressed happiness at earning the French Order of Arts and Letters and looked forward to sharing that moment with Luz Casal, with whom she has maintained a long friendship since their early years in the art world, a detail she conveyed to the press.
The commander rank of the Order stands as the highest level in the order, an honour created in 1957 to recognize extraordinary achievement in art or literature or to acknowledge those who broaden the reach and influence of culture on France and the world. After the commander rank, there are levels of officer and knight, assigned according to the duration and impact of a person’s career in their field.