Maria Dolores Greco Arroyo widely known as Lola Greco (born 1964) is a Spanish ballerina and

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

. After training with the

Ballet Nacional de España Ballet Nacional de España (English: ''National Ballet of Spain''; BNE) is a dance company founded in 1978. It is part of the National Institute of Performing Arts and Music (Spanish: ''Instituto Nacional de las Artes Escénicas y de la Música''; ...

(Spanish National Ballet), she joined the company, gaining the rank of

prima ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

when she was just 19. In 1983 she made her first appearance in Paris. She went on to dance in the company created by her father,

José Greco José Greco ( Costanzo Greco; December 23, 1918 – December 31, 2000) was an Italian-born American flamenco dancer and choreographer known for popularizing Spanish dance on the stage and screen in America mostly in the 1950s and 1960s. Backgro ...

, touring the United States. In 1999, she created her own company. In the early 2000s she returned to the National Ballet, both as a performer and a choreographer. Before leaving the stage, in 2009 she took the leading role in Miguel Narros' Flamenco work ''Fedra'', choreographed by Javier Latorre. That year she was honoured with the Spanish National Dance Award for performance.

Early life

Born in Madrid in 1964, Dolores Greco Arroyo is the daughter of the celebrated Italian-born Flamenco dancer Constanzo José Greco and his wife the dancer Aurelia Arroyo Garrido, generally known as Lola de Ronda. She was one of the couple's three children. When she was 14, she was admitted to the school of the Spanish National Ballet which led to her being engaged by the company.

Career

At the Spanish National Ballet, Greco was promoted to solo dancer when she was 17 and to prima ballerina when 19. Internationally, she first appeared in ''

Salome Salome (; he, שְלוֹמִית, Shlomit, related to , "peace"; el, Σαλώμη), also known as Salome III, was a Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II, son of Herod the Great, and princess Herodias, granddaughter of Herod the Great, an ...

'' at the Paris Opera in 1983 and at Milan's

La Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

in '' I vespri siciliani'' in 1990. She has appeared in ''

Medeo The Medeu ( kk, Медеу, ''Medeu''), is an outdoor speed skating and bandy rink. It is located in a mountain valley ( Medeu Valley, or the valley of Malaya Almatinka River) on the south-eastern outskirts of Almaty, Kazakhstan. Medeu sits 1, ...

'' with José Granero, as Julieta in Felipe Sánchez's ''Los Tarantos'' and in José Antonio Ruiz's ''Laberinto. She has also appreared widely in the United States, touring with her father José Greco. In 1998, together with her sister Carmela, she established her own company and toured Italy. She has successfully collaborated with the choreographer Philippe Talart. In December 2001 in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

with the Spanish National Ballet, she danced to the music of '' Concierto de Aranjuez'' in a presentation celebrating the 100th anniversary of Joaquin Rodrigo. Before retiring from the stage, in 2009 she took the leading role in Miguel Narros' Flamenco work Fedra, choreographed by Javier Latorre.

Awards

In 2009. Lola Greco was honoured with the Spanish National Dance Award for performance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greco, Lola 1964 births Living people Spanish female dancers Spanish dancers Spanish choreographers Spanish women choreographers Entertainers from Madrid