ANTONIO CANALES

ANTONIO CANALES

Antonio Gómez de los Reyes was born in Seville in 1961, the son and grandson of flamenco artists. He began his career at the Spanish National Ballet, where he soon became the company’s solo dancer. He has starred as a guest artist with some of the world’s top companies, and achieved worldwide fame. He has shared the stage with figures of the category of Nureyev, Peter Schaufuss, Sylvie Guillem and Julio Bocca. In 1992 he set up his own company, and appeared for the first time at the World Financial Center in New York to mark the Fifth Centenary of the Discovery of America. His show ‘Torero’ was nominated for an Emmy award in 1995.

MANUELA CARRASCO

Born in 1958 in Seville, she was self-taught. At the age of 13 she went on a two-year tour around Europe with the Curro Vélez flamenco troupe. In Madrid she started to dance as a solo artist with ‘Los Canasteros’. She has performed in shows including Gitano alongside Camarón de la Isla and El Lebrijano, and Flamenco puro with Fernanda de Utrera and Farruco. In the Flamenco Art Biennial in Seville in 1992 she starred in …Y Sevilla under the direction of José Luis Ortiz Nuevo. Three years later she performed alongside the singer José Mercé, in the film Flamenco by Carlos Saura. Her own company’s stage productions include La Diosa, Así baila Sevilla and Jondo Adonai.

CRISTÓBAL REYES

Es hijo de una familia gitana de reconocidos y talentosos artistas entre los que se cuenta a su sobrino Joaquín Cortés. Desde muy pequeño Reyes dedica su vida al baile flamenco iniciando su carrera profesional en reconocidos tablaos de Madrid para después formar parte de las compañías de Manuela Vargas y Antonio Ruiz.
En los 70 y 80, Cristóbal se desarrolló como solista en espectáculos de gran prestigio en los que desempeñó cargos de director y coreógrafo, siendo Cumbre Flamenca (Madrid, 1985) su trabajo más importante.
Cristóbal también es muy conocido por su labor como director artístico del famoso tablao La Zambra en Madrid, donde dirigió a muchas de las grandes figuras del flamenco como Javier Baron, Joaquín Ruiz y Juana Amaya, entre otros. En 1992 creó el espectáculo Cinco Bailaores, protagonizado por Reyes, Antonio Canales, Joaquín Cortés, Adrian Galia y Joaquín Grilo. El espectáculo se convirtió en un emblema de la historia del flamenco en Madrid por presentar un elenco de estrellas que formarían las bases del flamenco contemporáneo.
Reyes también formó su propia compañía, Flamenco Progresivo, con la que realizó numerosas giras alrededor del mundo. En el año 2000, Reyes creó la exitosa compañía Pura Pasión, producida por su sobrino Joaquín Cortés. En esta última, Reyes incluyó a las mejores artistas femeninas del flamenco, muchas de las cuales son ahora la referencia del flamenco moderno como Rafaela Carrasco, Belen Maya, Maria Juncal, Carmen La Talegona y Olga Pericet. Después del 2000, Reyes colaboró de nuevo con Cortés como coreógrafo en los espectáculos Pasión Gitana y El Amor y el Odio.
Cristóbal Reyes es uno de los más distinguidos y populares maestros del baile flamenco en la más prestigiosa academia de flamenco, Amor de Dios, en Madrid, lugar donde ha preparado a muchas de las actuales estrellas del flamenco, además de Cortés. Cristóbal enseña su estilo único y su técnica innovadora a estudiantes de todo el mundo a través de talleres y seminarios donde incorpora técnicas de ballet y baile moderno en la enseñanza del flamenco tradicional.
Además de su labor de enseñanza, Reyes es director, coreógrafo y bailaor de la Compañía de Flamenco Cristóbal Reyes, donde presenta su nuevo espectáculo Las Cosas del Flamenco a entusiastas audiencias en numerosos países.

JUANA AMAYA

Juana Amaya is a Gypsy from the family of the blacks from Ronda, and niece of Diego del Gastor and Luis Joselero, from Morón de la Frontera.
Since she was six years old she stood out due to her art in dance. The dancer Mario Maya discover her very soon, and when she was fourteen became his dance partner in the shows: “Ay Jondo” and “El Amargo”.
During the three years that lasted her collaboration with Mario Maya, they visited the whole world performing in very important venues such as the Carnegie Hall of New York and the Carré Sylvia Monfort of Paris.
From 1984 to 1994, she performed in “Cumbre Flamenca”, show that takes her to a long tour throughout Spain, England, India, Australia, Canada, among other countries. In 1991 she also performs with the company “Estrellas de la Bienal” havingadditional tours in France.
In 1993 she danced in a flamenco show together with Joaquín Cortés and Antonio Canales and the pianist Arturo Pavón.
In 1994 she formed her own company performing at Teatro Romano of Caracalla, Teatro Trianón in París, and recently at Festival de Mont de Marsan, Francia.
In 1996 Salvador Távora offered her to be the protagonist in the show “Carmen” obtaining a great success. Its premiere was at Teatro de La Maestranza, in the Bienal de Arte Flamenco, and later making a tour throughout Spain.
In 1997 she participated in the show of José Heredia Maya “Un Gitano de Ley”, in which she plays the role of Teresa, the wife of “El Pele”. The premiere was in the Cathedral of Seville, and the show was represented in the Basílica of Roma in front of the Pope Juan Pablo II the day of the beatification of Ceferino Gimenez Maya “El Pele”.
In 1999 she participated as guest artist in the tour of Joaquín Cortés in Japan with the show “Pasión Gitana”. In April of that same year she performs as first dancer together with Plácido Domingo, in the opera “El Cid”, which premiere was at Teatro de La Maestranza in Sevilla. Antonio Canales invited her to participate as first dancer in his new show “Fuerza Latina”.
Her strength and passion in dance, which she is completely dedicated to (rendering homage to the person she admires most, Carmen Amaya), make her to be one of the more talented young dancers of her generation. Fuerza, temperamento, compás y mucho arte jondo.

RAFAELA CARRASCO

Rafaela Carrasco’s approach to flamenco dance can be summed up by the title of her 2004 piece Fuera de los límites (Beyond the Limits), created with dancer Belén Maya. Carrasco, born in 1972, is one of the most important flamenco dancers of the younger generation, and a revolutionary creator of cutting edge flamenco choreography. She is a dancer who boundlessly explores new concepts while maintaining the essence and integrity of true flamenco.
Carrasco began dancing sevillanas when she was six years old and soon began studying classical Spanish dance at Seville’s renowned Maltilde Coral academy. After graduating from the school at age seventeen, she joined the Mario Maya flamenco dance company. At 23, she trained as a soloist in Madrid and performed as a lead dancer in performances by various choreographers.
In 2002 Carrasco formed her own company, and that same she year won prizes for Best Choreography, Best Composition, and Outstanding Dancer at Madrid’s Spanish Dance and Flamenco Choreography Competition. The Rafaela Carrasco Company has mounted five productions. Her first full-length work, La Musica del Cuerpo (The Music of the Body), had its debut at the 2003 Jerez Festival to great renown. The Washington Post deemed her work Una Mirada al Flamenco (A Look at Flamenco) “A bravura display…coherent and true to its roots.” In 2007 she premiered Del Amor y Otras cosas at the Jerez Festival. In 2008 she premiered “ConCierto Gusto” at the Jerez Flamenco Festival and Vamos al Tiroteo, her next show was premiered at the XV Flamenco Biennial of Seville, winning both the Giraldillo and the Press Award for best choreography.

MARIA JUNCAL

Maria Juncal, winner of the Antonio Gades National Award of Flamenco Dance and voted the best flamenco dancer at the Festival Del Cante De Las Minas, will bring her company to Santa Barbara to present her latest production, Tercera Llamada – Moment of Enchantment, and will also participate in a series of workshops for children and adults.
Juncal, born in the Canary Islands, moved to Spain to study with many of the preeminent flamenco masters such as El Gűito, Ciro, Cristobal Reyes, Paco Peña, Merche Esmeralda and La Tati. She soon became a member of some of the leading Spanish flamenco companies, performing throughout Europe, Asia and America. Early in her career she worked with the National Ballet of Cuba, and became a member of the company of El Gűito. She performed in the production, Campanas Flamencos, with Milagros Menjibar and La Tati. In Germany she presented her first show, La Gitana Blanca, and in the U.S. she made her debut as a soloist for the Jose Greco Company and also appeared as a soloist for a Joaquín Cortés production with performances in London, Madrid, Barcelona and Japan. She also performed as a soloist with the National Theatre of New York, with venues in Boston, Chicago, Kansas, New York and Minnesota.
She formed her own company in 2003 because she could no longer find any one she could honestly follow and work with and to pursue her own creative goals – a belief in an elegant, deeply felt, traditional flamenco (flamenco’s arte jondo) and the hard work, perseverance and discipline needed to develop and achieve that goal. The success of her initial production, performed in Mexico, led to numerous invitations to perform in many of the best venues in Mexico and Spain. With the release of her show Destemplao she embarked on a European tour that included performances in 20 cities in the Netherlands alone.
She developed Tercera Llamada in collaboration with the master Ciro Romero and the music director Juan Parrilla. It is a chant to life, love and death – to the before, during, and after of a life that always offers happiness. Juncal believes that it is in the body that humans find pain and love and it is on the stage that flamenco goes straight to the heart – to the soul – and touches people. Before making her stage entrance she bestows a tender touch with her hand on the floor and prays for that ultimate union of body and soul.
Despite all her accomplishments, Juncal claims she is still a pupil. She continues a daily, vigorous regimen of study, practice and is always ready to receive lessons from her master teachers and from life.

ANDRÉS MARÍN

Andrés Marín is one of the most significant artists in flamenco today. His productions have centered on traditional flamenco and, specifically, on classic flamenco singing (cante); not from a conventional perspective, but through a radical personal vision and an utterly contemporary style. His dancing is considered one of the most innovative in flamenco dance.
Son of flamenco artists, Andrés Marín was born in Seville in 1969. Although he began dancing as a child alongside his father, Marín is a self-taught dancer. He debuted professionally in 1992 and worked as guest artist and choreographer in diverse companies and shows until the formation of his own company in 2002.
“Más Allá del Tiempo”, the first show of the Compañía Andrés Marín, debuted in the Maison de la Danse in Lyon and completed more than sixty performances in different countries including such revered venues as the XII Bienal de Flamenco in Seville, the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, the Festival de Jerez, the Ópera de Lille and the New World Flamenco Festival in Los Angeles. He participated in the festival “¡Mira! in the National Theatre of Toulouse and in “Dance Celebration!”, a live dance gala including choreographers Jiri Kylian, Bill T. Jones and Montalvo, broadcast for the Art Channel from the Maison de la Danse in Lyon. He conducted dance workshops for the Spanish National Ballet and the Andalusian Dance Company.
2013 marks the beginning of a period of outstanding artistic collaborations. French choreographer and director Bartabas, pioneer of the combination of equestrian art, dance, music and stage, and the director of the Theatre Equestre Zingaro of Paris, invites Marín to co-create the show “Golgota”, a dialogue between man, animal, dance, and the silent music of Renaissance composer Tomás Luis de Victoria. “Golgota” will enjoy more than 100 scheduled performances since its premiere in October 2013 through the 2015/2016 season.
This is not Marín´s only experience outside a traditional context of his art. Convinced that flamenco is fully capable of dialoguing with other art forms, and in full artistic maturity, he joined forces with hip-hop dancer/choreographer Kader Attou – director of the National Choreographic Center of La Rochelle (France) – for an encounter between flamenco and modern dance performed at the Chaillot National Theater on June 26th, together with the duo Eva Yerbabuena+Carolyn Carlson, for the first Flamenco Bienal of Paris. We could also see Marín staging the Inaugural Gala of the 19th Festival of World Sacred Music of Fez, with the presence of the Morrocan royal family in a show titled “Love is My Religion”, a poetic evocation of the music and dance of Andalusia.
Apart from his activities as a dancer and choreographer, Marín directs Andrés Marín Flamenco Abierto, a dance studio and productions office based in Sevilla.

JUAN ANDRÉS HEREDIA MAYA

Juan Andrés Heredia Maya was born for the art of flamenco on the 6th of January 1972 in the heart of the Gypsy quarter of the Sacromonte. With notable artistic ancestry (he is the nephew of the most famous flamenco dancers Mario Maya and Manolete and the no less famous guitarist Juan Maya Marote he began dancing at the age of three in the Cueva de las Rocío, owned by his parents, where he quickly became the main attraction for the numerous visitors to this popular venue in Granada.
At the early age of 14 he left for Cairo with Cachado’s company and since then has continued performing in a variety of shows. At the age of 18 he created the choreography for his first work “Passion”. His success in Granada led to performances in theatres of the Community of Madrid.
In 1995 he joined Carmen Linares for a tour of Jordan and Tunisia. A year later he was invited by the king and queen of Spain to perform in the Carmen de los Capiteles and he made his debut at the Alhambra with “Cautivo” alongside Manolete, la Hierbabuena and Beatriz Martín. He took part in “Amor Brujo” in the leading role. He worked in New York at the Lincoln Centre and toured Holland and Japan. In September of that year he presented his new work “Raíces” sponsored by the Duchess of Alba.
In 1997 he performed alongside Antonio Canales in the work “Guernika”.

In 1998 he presented his show “Gitanos de Sacromonte” at Tokyo’s Café de Chinitas and in the same year was invited by the king and queen of Spain to celebrate queen Sofia’s birthday in the Zarzuela Palace.

In 2000 he toured theatres throughout Europe with Paco Peña’s company and performed at Tokyo’s Aoyama-Enkei theatre with his own show.
He shared the Alcázar theatre stage in Madrid with Antonio Canales, Sara Baras, Lole Montoya and Suroma and staged his own production “Maya II” at the Isabel la Católica theatre to wide acclaim.
In 2002 he presented the show of which he is the choreographer, author and interpreter, “Homenaje a Carmen Amaya” at Madrid’s Nuevo Apolo theatre. He travelled to Holland performing at 19 different venues performing “Gitanos de Sacromonte” with his uncle Toni Maya’s company. He interpreted his own show Maya III “El Flamenco de un Marginado” in Casa Patas, the Isabel la Católica theatre in Granada and the Corral de la Morería in Madrid.
In 2003 he received the award as the revelation flamenco artist along with Nacho Duato.

BELÉN MAYA

Belén Maya García (New York, 1966) begins as an extreme avant-garde dancer, geometric. But her dance is smoother and has become one of the best. Her dance is not lacking in the hurry and the intensity that dazzled the world in Flamenco (1995), the film of Carlos Saura. It does not lack in desire and necessity that burst through her skin. It does not lack in sincerity or seduction. It does not lack in anxiety, the avant-garde as a desperate way against time. But Maya has not forgotten her origins. She follows the footsteps of the “bata de cola” and the subtle melody. There is also risk and courage. But in her last stage we have seen her transformation from a suicide trapeze artist to a fine acrobat. Her dance does not lack of the old rigour of time, the pain of the hours, the devastation of the seasons, the gully line in the palm of the contemporary hand. It does not lack the hallucinogenic ecstasy of the factories and the violence of the alarm clocks. The shadowy look of those who have seen hell cannot be missing, the best of the XX century. But the dancer does not even give up the pure colours, the “bata de cola” used as a modern woman. Cybernetic “bata de cola” that is the sentence and the freedom, at the same tame, of the contemporary woman of the assembly factory. The “bata de cola” is the art of Belén Maya, a dark chrysalis that is reborn thirsty of sensations, the flamenco woman today. Transparent and in balance with tradition. Emphatic and delicate. The “bata the cola” has been in the last Belén Maya’s shows (Fuera de los Límites, 2003; Dibujos, 2005, Souvenir and La Voz de su Amo in 2007; the last two has been coproduced with Mercat de les Flors) the instrument of the metamorphosis, the flight to progress after the delicate exquisiteness of Flamenco de Cámara.
From the book‘Las Rutas del Flamenco en Andalucía’ Juan Vergillos (Fundación Lara, 2006)
Manuel Liñán (1980) has formed part of such companies as Carmen Cortés, Adrián Galia, Manolete, Guito, Rafaela Carrasco… As a soloist, one must highlight his collaborations with Merche Esmeralda’s company as lead dancer, “Campanas Flamencas” alongside “La Tati” and Milagros Mengibar, and Teresa Nieto’s company. She has participated in shows such as “Caminos de Lorca” with Belén Maya and Rafael Carrasco, overseen by Cristina Hoyos.
Among her notable co-productions are such shows as “Cámara Negra” with Olga Pericet, “Dos en Compañía” with Marco Flores, “En sus 13” and “Rew” with Daniel Doña, as well as his solo projects “Tauro” and “Sinergia,” which have been presented in several prestigious festivals including: Festival de La Unión, Festival de Jerez, Bienal de Sevilla, Festival de Música y Danza de Granada, Madrid en Danza, Danza en La Villa…
Manuel has choreographed for other shows, such as Paco Romero’s “Cinco Grandes de la Danza,” Nuevo Ballet Español’s “Cambio de Tercio,” Mario Maya’s “Mujeres,” “La Tati’s” “The House of Bernarda Alba,” Belén Maya’s “Dibujos,” Teresa Nieto’s “De Cabeza,” Rafaela Carrasco’s “Con Cierto Gusto” and “150gr de Pensamiento.” He was also the stage director and choreographer of the show “Todo Cambia” with Pastora Galván and Belén López. He has choreographed for the Real Conservatorio de Danza Profesional Mariemma and was a guest choreographer for BALLET NACIONAL DE ESPAÑA’s show “Ángeles Caídos.”
During his career, he has received several awards, notably: “Deflamenco.com” Breakthrough Dancer of 2006, the Hugo Boss Award for New Promises in Dance, Award for Breakthrough Dancer and Best Choreography at the 2004 Certamen Internacional de Danza Española y Flamenco de Madrid, Max Award for Best Choreography for “De Cabeza,” Festival de Jerez’ 2012 Breakthrough Artist Award for the show “Tauro.”