Carmen Cortés
Who is Carmen Cortés?
Carmen Cortés Pérez was born on December 19, 1958 in Barcelona, to Andalusian parents. A Gitana bailaora and choreographer, she trained in classical dance at the Escuela del Ballet Nacional and earned her Diploma Superior de Danza in 1994. In time she founded and directed her own company, Carmen Cortés Danza, and developed an intense artistic relationship with guitarist Gerardo Núñez, who accompanied a large part of her productions.
Career
Her choreographic output unfolds from the late 1980s onward with titles such as “A contraluz” (1988), “Reunión flamenca” (1989), “Flamenco-flamenco” and “Cantes de ida y vuelta” (1990), and the dance-theater piece “Memorias del cobre” (1991). In the nineties she premiered “El amor brujo” and “Los Gabrieles”, along with literature-inspired productions such as “Yerma” (1996, based on García Lorca), also presented at the Teatro Phillips in Eindhoven, and “Salomé” (1997, based on Oscar Wilde). Her work “Así pasen cien años” (1998) made her a finalist for best dancer in the performing arts that same year.
Into the 2000s she produced pieces such as “Racial”, “Soleá, un son eterno”, “También muere el mar”, “Piezas únicas”, “Celestina” (2004), “La puerta del silencio” and “Mujeres de Lorca” (2006). She is recognized for moving comfortably between the most orthodox flamenco and avant-garde proposals; in fact, she was the first bailaora to choreograph a granaína, a free-rhythm cante traditionally foreign to structured dance.
Legacy
Her production “Yerma” was officially selected by the Fundación Federico García Lorca for the poet’s centenary celebrations in 1998. She has always maintained a stance of artistic independence, self-producing much of her work in the face of limited institutional support, which has established her as one of the most personal voices in auteur flamenco of recent decades.