Flamenco 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 Murcia. In a wider sense, the term is used to refer to a variety of both contemporary and traditional musical styles typical of southern Spain. Flamenco is closely associated to the gitanos of the Romani ethnicity who have contributed significantly to its origination and professionalization. However, its style is uniquely Andalusian and flamenco artists have historically included Spaniards of both gitano and non-gitano heritage.
Antonio Esteve Ródenas or Antonio Gades was a Spanish flamenco dancer and choreographer. He helped to popularise the art form on the international stage. He was born in Elda, Alicante, and was the father of actress María Esteve and singer Celia Flores, his daughters with his ex-partner Marisol, herself a popular actress and singer.
María del Rocío Mohedano Jurado, better known as Rocío Jurado, was a Spanish singer and actress. She was born in Chipiona (Cádiz) and nicknamed "La más grande".
Carlos Saura Atarés was a Spanish film director, photographer and writer. With Luis Buñuel and Pedro Almodóvar, he is considered to be among Spain's great filmmakers. He had a long and prolific career that spanned over half a century, and his films won many international awards.
Sara Pereyra Baras is a Spanish flamenco dancer and choreographer born in San Fernando (Cádiz) who has established her own dance company.
Juana la Macarrona was a Spanish flamenco dancer (bailaora).
Estrella Morente is a Spanish flamenco singer. She was born on 14 August 1980 in Las Gabias, Granada in southern Spain. She is the daughter of flamenco singer Enrique Morente and dancer Aurora Carbonell.
Carmen is a 1983 Spanish film adaptation of the novel Carmen by Prosper Mérimée, using music from the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet. It was directed and choreographed in the flamenco style by Carlos Saura and María Pagés. It is the second part of Saura's flamenco trilogy in the 1980s, preceded by Bodas de sangre and followed by El amor brujo. The film was an Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film at the 56th Academy Awards.
Blood Wedding is a 1981 Spanish musical film written and directed by Carlos Saura. It was directed and choreographed in the flamenco style. It is the first part of Saura's 1980s flamenco trilogy, and is followed by Carmen (1983) and El amor brujo (1986).
El amor brujo or Carlos Saura Dance Trilogy, Part 3: El Amor Brujo is a 1986 Spanish musical film written and directed by Carlos Saura. It was directed and choreographed in the flamenco style by Maria Pagès. It is the third part of the Saura's flamenco trilogy he made in the 1980s, after Bodas de sangre in 1981 and Carmen in 1983. The film was screened out of competition at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival.
Antonio Najarro is a Spanish flamenco dancer and figure skating choreographer.
María Jesús Pagés Madrigal, better known as María Pagés, is a modern Spanish dancer and choreographer and one of the most internationally renowned Flamenco artists in the world. She is considered the paramount representative of flamenco vanguard. Internationally acclaimed for her personal aesthetic concept of this dance, she has proven to be the leading pioneer in the understanding of this art as an evolution, contemporary and alive, making her a leading innovator of modern flamenco. She founded her own dance company in 1990, now based in Madrid, Spain, while performing worldwide. In 2014 she was awarded with the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts (Spain) by the Spanish State through the Ministry of Culture.
Javier Antonio García Expósito is a dancer and choreographer. He debuted at the age of sixteen in the National Lyric Company. In 1979, he joined the Ballet Nacional de España, as soloist under the direction of Antonio Gades. After receiving an award as the Festival d'Avignon, he founded in 1988 in Cordoba the Ziryab Danza of which he was director, choreographer and dancer. He had considerable success with the show Hijas del Alba. A year later, he received three national awards at the Concurso Nacional de Arte Flamenco. In 1990, he toured with the show La fuerza del destinoall over Europe, and participated as a guest artist with Mario Maya in Diálogos del Amargo. He collaborated on Concierto flamenco para un marinero en tierra with Vicente Amigo before winning the first prize in dance at the Festival del Cante de las Minas in 1994.
Ana Morales Moreno, known as Ana Morales, is a Spanish flamenco dancer and choreographer, who has established her own dance company.
Antonio Gómez de los Reyes known as Antonio Canales is a male flamenco dancer and choreographer born in Seville.
Isabel Bayón Gamero, known in flamenco dance circles as Isabel Bayón, is a flamenco dancer, choreographer and teacher of flamenco dance, winner of the Spanish National Dance Award in 2013 in the category of interpretation. Nowadays, she combines her artistic career and teaching in the María de Ávila Royal Dance Conservatory in Madrid.
Belén Maya is a Spanish flamenco dancer, choreographer and educator.
La Macanita is the artistic name of Tomasa Guerrero Carrasco, a Spanish flamenco singer.
Merche Esmeralda is a Spanish flamenco dancer (bailaora) and choreographer. In 2007, she was the recipient of the Fundación Cruzcampo "Compás del Cante" Award; this award is always referred to by the Spanish media as the "Flamenco Nobel prize".
Teodoro Escamilla Serrano, also known as Teo Escamilla, was a Spanish cinematographer.
