María Jesús Pagés Madrigal (b.- 28 July 1963), better known as María Pagés, is a modern

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

dancer and choreographer. Considered one of the premiere living

Flamenco Flamenco () is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the Gitanos, gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and Region of Murcia, ...

dancers, Pagés has been recognised internationally for decades as one of the top performers of the style, with her expressive stage presence and passionate, unique rhythmic interpretations. She is among the paramount representatives of flamenco vanguard. Critically and publicly acclaimed for her personal, aesthetic approach to Flamenco performance, Pagés has long-since proven herself to be the current leading pioneer in the modern understanding of this ever-evolving art form. In 1990, she founded a dance company which is now based in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, and has continued performing worldwide ever since. In 2014, she was awarded the government's Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts (Spain) by the Spanish Ministry of Culture. In 2022, she reveived the Princess of Asturias Award in the category "Arts", being the first flamenco dancer in history to receive this recognition.

Life and career

María Jesús Pagés Madrigal was born in Seville, Andalucía, southern Spain, where she began dancing at a young age, professionally, with the Antonio Gades Company. She choreographed for several films, including ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

'', '' El Amor Brujo'' and ''

'' by

Carlos Saura Carlos Saura Atarés (4 January 1932 – 10 February 2023) was a Spanish film director, photographer and writer. With Luis Buñuel and Pedro Almodóvar, he is considered to be among Spain's great filmmakers. He had a long and prolific career th ...

; in 1990, she founded the Maria Pagés Dance Company in Madrid. Her work is described as an incorporation of the Spanish flamenco style with personal touches and modern and global influences. María Pagés and her company have toured internationally for decades, appearing at theatres such as the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

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Baryshnikov Arts Center The Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) is a foundation and arts complex opened by Mikhail Baryshnikov in 2005 at 450 West 37th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The top three fl ...

and

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall (also known as Radio City) is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York C ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, and

The Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

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, among dozens of other iconic venues. In 1995, Pagés was asked by Irish pianist and composer Bill Whelan to join the cast of his (at the time) new stage production, ''

Riverdance ''Riverdance'' is a theatrical show that consists mainly of traditional Irish music and dance. With a score composed by Bill Whelan, it originated as an interval act during the Eurovision Song Contest 1994, featuring Irish dancing champions J ...

'', which had made its triumphant debut as the interval performance in the 1994

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

and was being developed into a full show. Primarily celebrating

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and its ancient and modern history, mythology, music and dance, ''Riverdance'' also paid tribute to other styles of dance and music that have influenced Ireland, such as that of Spain; the live show featured Pagés in two solo pieces (one in act I and the second in act II), titled "Firedance" and "Andalucía", respectively. In the earliest versions of ''Riverdance'', famed Irish-American dancer Michael Flatley occasionally joined Pagés for "Firedance" in a fusion of Flamenco and Irish dance performance. In later iterations of the show, such as in the late 1990s, she would appear a third time on stage, dancing somewhat more casually, playing

castanets Castanets, also known as ''clackers'' or ''palillos'', are a percussion instrument ( idiophonic), used in Spanish, Calé, Moorish, Ottoman, Greek, Italian, Mexican, Sephardic, Portuguese, Filipino, Brazilian, and Swiss music. In ancient ...

and interacting with

fiddler A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially syno ...

Eileen Ivers Eileen Ivers (born July 13, 1965) is an American fiddler. Ivers was born in New York City of Irish-born parents, grew up in the Bronx and attended St. Barnabas High School. She spent summers in Ireland and took up the fiddle at the age of nin ...

. In 2000, Pagés provided choreography for the ''Hispanic Heritage Awards''. Presently, she serves on the board of the Cultural Council in Madrid.

Honors and awards

*1996 - National Choreography Award * Giraldillos Awards, Giennale of Arte Flamenco (four times) *2002 - National Dance Award *2004 - Leonid Massine Award, Italy *2005 - Flamenco Awards, VI Edition *2005 - Premios Flamenco Hoy, VI *2006 - Cultura Viva Award *2007 - Premio Cultura, Community of Madrid *2011 - International Award Terenci Moix *2011 - Medal of Andalucía *2014 - Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts (Spain) *2022 - Princess of Asturias Award in the category "Arts".Princess of Asturias Award 2022
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Works

Selected works include: *''Sol y sombra'' (1990) *''De la luna al viento'' (1994) *''Riverdance'' (1995–1996) *''El perro andaluz, Burlerías'' (1996) *''La tirana'' (1998) *''Flamenco Republic'' (2001) *''Ilusiones FM'' (2002) *''Canciones, antes de una guerra'' (2004) *''Sevilla'' (2006) *''Autorretrato'' (2008) *''Flamenco y Poesía'' (2008) *''Dunas'' (2009) *''Mirada'' (2010) *''Utopia'' (2011) *''Yo, Carmen'' (2018)

Filmography

Pagés has appeared in television and films including: *''Miradas 2'' (TV series documentary) (2010–11) *''A escena'' (TV series) (2010) *''Ànima'' (TV series) (2009) *''Plácido y la copla'' (TV movie) (2008) *''La mandrágora'' (TV series)(2006) *''The Late Late Show'' (TV series) (2003) *''Riverdance: The New Show'' (1996) *''Riverdance: The Show'' (1995) *''Flamenco'' (1995)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pages, Maria 1963 births Living people Contemporary dance choreographers Modern dancers Spanish choreographers Spanish female dancers Spanish women choreographers