Joaquín Cortés

Joaquín Cortés — Biography

Born Joaquín Pedraja Reyes, Spanish dancer and choreographer Joaquín Cortés is known for a style that fuses flamenco with classical ballet and modern dance. He toured the world with his own company and also worked as an artistic director and an actor. He holds the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts and the Lunas del Auditorio awards.

Raised in a Gitano family, Cortés moved to Madrid, began regular dance training and entered the Spanish National Ballet while still young; as a soloist he appeared at New York's Metropolitan Opera House and the Kremlin Palace in Moscow. In 1988 he left and took up independent invitations. The troupe he founded in 1992 toured Cibayí; Pasión Gitana in 1995 brought him recognition as a choreographer and artistic director, and Giorgio Armani contributed to the stage design of that show and of Soul. From the 2000s he shifted towards choreography: De Amor y Odio, Mi Soledad, Unleashed, Esencia.

On screen he appeared in La flor de mi secreto, Carlos Saura's Flamenco, Gitano and, as Carlos, Vanilla and Chocolate, and he has performed in many cities including Istanbul. Purists say his shows lean too heavily on spectacle, yet he sees himself as a voice of 21st-century flamenco. He became a representative of the Roma community to the European Union, set up a Roma foundation in Spain, and argued for repairing the image of the word "Gypsy" rather than banning it.