Manolete (bailaor)
Who is Manolete?
Manuel Santiago Maya, known as Manolete, was born in 1945 in the caves of the Sacromonte in Granada, into the Maya gitano dynasty, and began dancing at the age of seven. At fifteen he moved to Madrid alongside his brother, the guitarist Juan Maya “Marote”, who had a decisive influence on his early training, and he trained at the academy of Antonio “El Bailarín”, in the golden age of Madrid’s tablaos, rubbing shoulders with artists such as Antonio Gades. He went on to perform at Torres Bermejas, considered one of Madrid’s most prestigious tablaos.
Career
He danced in companies such as those of Manuela Vargas, María Albaicín and La Chunga, and also as a guest artist with the Ballet Nacional de España. He toured Europe, the Americas and Japan, and took part in landmark productions such as “Macama Jonda” and “Los Tarantos”; he also performed at the Cumbre Flamenca and at the Bienal de Flamenco de Sevilla in 1996 and 2000.
In 2009 he founded the Escuela Internacional de Flamenco at La Chumbera, Granada, where he trained artists of the stature of Joaquín Cortés, Antonio Canales, Manolo Liñán, Eva Yerbabuena and Sara Baras; his daughter Judea went on to become deputy director of the school.
Style
He was especially recognized for his interpretation of the farruca, a masculine and technically demanding dance, which he performed with a rigor and classical composure that he rarely broke in favor of showmanship.
Legacy
He received the Premio Nacional de Danza, the award of the Asociación de Profesores de Danza y Flamenco, the Gold Medal of Granada in 2008, and the gold insignia of the Peña de la Platería in 2010. He died on September 12, 2022, at the age of 77, remembered as one of the great masters of male flamenco dance and as a teacher of several generations of bailaores.