Belén López

NAME: Ana Belén López Ruiz “Belén López”

PLACE AND DATE OF BIRTH: Tarragona, December 1986

STUDIES: She started her studies in the Dance Conservatory of Madrid at the age of eleven; she finished the career four years later.

CAREER: Belén López’s mother is from Córdoba and her father from Seville, she started dancing when she was very young even if the flamenco tradition was not present in her family. It is hard to summarize the career of this flamenco dancer.

At the age of five, during the Saint Jordi’s Day, Belén danced in a tribute to inaugurate a street in Barcelona dedicated to Carmen Amaya. Her performance was represented before Mr Pasqual Maragall, the mayor of Barcelona in that time, along with the famous artists Antonio Ruiz Soler “el bailarín” and Pilar López. It was the first time that Belén danced with live music and she remembers it as a “very important experience” in her career.

At the age of seven she won the television contest “Bravo Bravísimo” and acted along with the worldwide known dancer Ángel Corella in the Madrid Theatre. In December of 1994 she was invited by Corella to perform with him in a benefit show by UNICEF, presented by Concha Galán in the Madrid Theatre.

When she was nine years old she represented Spain in the International Tourism Fair “Inturfest” in San Petersburg (Russia) for the first time. In August of 1996 she performed as a guest artist in a gala dinner in Tenerife organized by Andrés Caparrós. Months later she danced before representatives of the department of Russian tourism in the Tarragona Town Hall.

In February of 1997 she represented again Spain in “Inturfest”, and in several Embassies and Palaces of San Petersburg. In 1999 she moved to Madrid and performed regularly in many tablaos flamencos. At the age of eleven she started the studies in the Dance Conservatory of Madrid and she finished them four years later.

Since 2001 until 2005 and for four seasons she was the first flamenco dancer of the Arena di Verona, the biggest opera outdoor theatre in the world with the plays “Carmen” and “Il Trovatore”, directed by Franco Zefirelli, she also was first dancer in the dance company La Corrala directed by Il Camborio, and toured Italy. In April 2003 she performed in the Russian Embassy of Madrid. For a couple of months she was first dancer in the Corral de la Morería in Madrid, where she presented a show along with Juan Andrés Maya.

In May 2004, at the age of 17, she got the National Flamenco Award “Mario Maya” and in March of 2005 she was awarded with the Best New Artist Award by the Corral de la Pacheca. The 3rd October 2003 she performed as the only dancer in a benefit dinner gala in the Zarzuela Theatre in Madrid before Her Majesty Queen Sofía.

In January 2005 she debuted with her own company in the Metropol Theatre of Tarragona presenting the staging “Atrapados por el arte” (Caught by art). She performed it again in Madrid Theatre one year later. In February 2006 she performed in the Jerez Festival in the cycle “Los novísimos” and in April of the same year in “La Biennale danza e Italia” of Pessaro (Italy).

In 2008 Belén López directed, wrote and choreographed “Cuando Amanece” in the Nuevo Apolo Theatre in Madrid. The following year she was acclaimed by the critic for the show “A mi manera” in La Latina Theatre.

In 2012, Belén López travelled to Prague, debuting in that city, and also to Brno in the Czech Republic.
In March of 2013, Belén López performed along with Jesús Carmona, Antonio Canales, Sol Picó and Carlos Rodríguez in the tenth edition of the Flamenco Festival of London.

She has also performed in the Español, the Albéniz Theatre and the Fine Arts Circle in Madrid; the Grand Theatre of Cordoba; the Suma Flamenca Festival in the Gasteig Theatre of Munich; in the Caja Madrid Festival; the Flamenco Festival Pa Tós; in the Bienal of Malaga…etc.

AWARDS: National Flamenco Award “Mario Maya” 2004 and the Best New Artist Award 2005 by the Corral de la Pacheca.