Javier Latorre

Javier Latorre: Dancer, choreographer and teacher, as he describes himself. (1963-present).

Dancer

The first steps in the dance world made by little Javier took place in his native town Valencia, Spain. At the age of 4 he was sent to dance school, and at the age of 14 he made his début at the National Lyric Company (Compania Lirica Nacional, a center for support of national culture in the fields of music, theater, opera and dance). There Javier was immediately noticed by the famous bailaor and master of flamenco Antonio Gades and invited to the National Ballet of Spain. Under his leadership Javier Latorre became a leading dancer and got his first parts together with Maria Avila. In the future Javier, as well as Maria, would become a famous choreographer and open his own school. Meanwhile the passion and mobility of the young dancer won hearts of fans all over Spain and abroad.

At the age of 25 he received his first prize as the best dancer at a festival in France.  A rebel by nature, Latorre brings his character to the dance with a little fury and vigor as if he is being bewitched by his continuing rhythm. His wild and serious passion and body mobility shock with their sincerity. A year later, in 1989, at the National Contest in Cordoba he already got three first prizes.

Choreographer

"I created the choreography for more than thirty works, ranging from the "orthodox" flamenco to Verdi, Piazzolla, Mozart, Morente and many others".

Beginning from 1988, Javier Latorre creates his own productions. At the age of 25 his first own company «Ziryab Danza» and the first performance «Hijas del Alba» brought him enormous success. But the worldwide fame came with another play, «La Fuerza del destino», with which 27-year old Latorre went on tour all over Europe. His choreography is different from flamenco performances of his times, the movements are born from the image in the dancer´s mind. This is very similar to the technique used by actors to get used to their characters on the stage and live a real experience.
"We, artists, talk to each other in the language of ideas" - says Latorre. He creates plays in which he mixes acting and dance, which are similar to flamenco in that they mix different styles and movements. According to him, choreography is "a constant experiment, the richness of movement vocabulary, a sense of geometry, groups of movement and simplicity, ability to take advantage of the dancers with whom you create each work". He is full of energy and while barely finishing one staging, he is already imagining the next one in his head.
At the same time, Latorre continues to conquer with his passionate style of dancing, taking part in the performances of other choreographers, for instance in «Dialogos del Amargo» by Mario Maya and Vicente Amigo. In 1994 he got the first prize in the «Festival de La Union» in Spain. Latorre has earned a well-deserved status of master in the flamenco circles.

Manifesto

"I'm sure there are people who do not like it, because my sense of humor and outlook on life are either rough or aggressive or sarcastic, or disrespectful... but for me a good dance is the only thing that matters".

Javier lives and dances with an open heart. 10 years ago, in the spring of 2001, Javier Latorre wrote his manifesto, which he dedicated to flamenco. He called these rules his code of ethics. In the manifesto he strongly blamed the teachers of modern flamenco, who teach to imitate the movements, but not to feel the dance. He asked to cancel some unnecessary awards, to fire the critics and cease the division of flamenco on "pure" and "dirty", explaining that "flamenco is a product of mixture of cultures that no one is still able to explain clearly".

Teacher

Personality of Javier shines through in his dance. His experience as a dancer and a choreographer helped him become a good teacher. For the last six years Javier Latorre has been awaking the love for flamenco in the students at his center in Cordoba, Spain. Accessories, tattoos, mustache, the Mephisto-like beard and sustained goodwill are the things that allow the great master to make an immediate impression. At the same time, even at 48, he is still so impressive on stage that there is still no dancer of the new bailaor generation who could compete with his energy.

Recent work

At the 15th festival in Jerez, which was held on the 3rd of March, the choreographer presented his avant-garde staging of "Elf and clocks» («El duende y el reloj»), in which he appears in the image of Salvador Dali. This is the first work of his team «Requetedanza», with which he performs since July 2010, after its debut at the festival in Cordoba. Mixing fairy tales and reality to embody the soul of flamenco has become a mix of styles and slow rhythm. An attempt to show the nature of flamenco, Alegrias, Solea, guajiros and cabal, through the characters in a dance, new technology and animation, is still not fully understood by the audience.

Perhaps Latorre has gone too far in his daring innovations. However, reviews of his students say that even a few hours spent in the master’s company make it possible to see the dance in a new way, inventing new moves and learning to follow the idea of movement in music accompanied by

Spanish rhythms

This time, the legend of flamenco, Javier Latorre, has prepared a presentation with the Latorre company signature. We will see him in May at the Flamenco Festival in Moscow.