María Pagés
Who is María Pagés?
María Jesús Pagés Madrigal was born in 1963 in the Seville neighborhood of Triana. She trained from childhood with Matilde Coral and Manolo Marín, and by fourteen she had already graduated with honors in Spanish dance, an early precociousness that foreshadowed the direction her career would take.
Before setting out on her own artistic path she worked as a soloist in leading 20th-century Spanish dance companies: those of Antonio Gades, Mario Maya, Rafael Aguilar and María Rosa, a formative period that gave her a very solid technical and stage foundation.
Career
In 1990 she founded her own company, with which she made her debut in Seville with “Sol y sombra”. Since then she has premiered pieces such as “Tango” (1992, at the Bienal de Sevilla), “De la luna al viento” (1994), “El perro andaluz. Burlerías” (1996, awarded the ADE’s Premio Nacional de Coreografía), “La Tirana” (1998, inspired by the work of Goya), and “Divinas palabras” (2008). She has taken her dance to stages in Germany, the United States, Japan, France, China, Italy, Israel, Canada, Australia and many other countries, and since 1995 she has led the cast of the show “Riverdance”. In 2001 she performed at the inauguration ceremonies of President George W. Bush, and she has appeared in Carlos Saura films such as “Carmen” and “El amor brujo”.
She directed the Compañía Andaluza de Danza in 1996, and since 1999 her company has been based at the Teatro Bulevar in Torrelodones, Madrid. Her dance ranges across bulerías, soleás, tangos, farrucas, tientos, tonás, deblas, martinetes and alegrías, always from the perspective of a creator rather than a mere performer, integrating classical music and other stage disciplines into her productions.
Style
Her work is characterized by a highly personal conception of flamenco, far removed from the conventional recital formula, in which choreography, dramaturgy and dialogue with other arts carry as much weight as the dancing itself.
Legacy
In 2002 she became the first bailaora to be honored with Spain’s Premio Nacional de Danza in the creation category, rather than as a performer, a milestone that underscores her role as a leading choreographer. Her career remains active, with an established company and an international trajectory that places her among the most influential figures of contemporary flamenco vanguard.