Company

In 1952, film director Edgar Neville asked Antonio to create some original dances for the film Duende y misterio del flamenco. Alongside the first martinete ever to be danced, he included an initial, shorter version of Sonatas, set to music by Padre Soler, which would later become one of the most successful works in his repertoire. This first version already revealed that Antonio’s approach to Escuela Bolera did not follow the conventions of the traditional school, whether in its dance vocabulary, arm movements, castanet technique or Goya-inspired aesthetic. The Escuela Bolera that Antonio presented in a palatial setting, populated by infantas, courtiers and halberdiers, combined bolero tradition with classical dance in a work of great technical complexity. A year later, the first programme performed by his company, Antonio Ballet Español, included the complete suite of eight sonatas, danced by the entire company of 35 dancers in a series of different scenes. The premiere took place as part of the Granada International Festival of Music and Dance, held in the Jardines del Generalife.

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