Juan de Juan choreography workshop

Flamenco choreography workshop led by Juan de Juan.

Today we are celebrating #InternationalFlamencoDay by sharing with you the choreography workshop that Juan de Juan led for the company. It was an opportunity to delve deeper into the style, the different forms, and how to convey all its richness through dance.

Juan de Juan, the stage name of Juan Carlos Ramírez Castillo, was born in Seville in 1979. He began his training as a flamenco dancer in Morón de la Frontera and perfected his technique at the Royal Conservatory of Seville, whilst taking classes with masters of the calibre of Ramón Barrús, Manolo Marín, Juan Amaya, Juan Ramírez, Ciro, Manolete and Antonio Canales. It was the latter who introduced him to the professional world, selecting him as a dancer for his company at the age of 16. There he rose to become principal dancer and guest performer, performing in and choreographing some of the most renowned flamenco shows, such as Torero, Raíz, El romancero gitano, Bernarda, Gitano, Fuerza Latina, Prometeo, Bailaor, Cenicienta, Minotauro and Tierra y Fuego, amongst others.

He made his solo debut in 2001 with the production Pueblos at the Teatro Príncipe in Madrid, and in 2004 he founded his own large-scale company, Ballet Flamenco Juan de Juan, with which he enjoyed great success presenting the choreography Torero, which was ceded to him by Canales. Juan de Juan has performed throughout Spain and at the world’s most important theatres and festivals, both as a dancer and as a choreographer of his own shows, such as Anda-Luz, Guitarra de cal, A solas, A mi aire, Orígenes, Los sones negros, Mensajes con alma, A lo cabal, La voz del baile and Flamenco’s Hoofer.

He premiered his latest project, 66 palos, at the last Seville Biennial. It is a show that explores the different styles of flamenco through dance, allowing the audience to appreciate the chromatic breadth of this style, conveying the extraordinary richness of its language through singing, guitar playing and dance, as Juan de Juan so clearly demonstrates throughout the performance. The critic Kiko Valle has written of it: “As soon as it hits the stage, it could be counted as a bold and distinctive milestone amongst the leading dance shows.”