About this Artist
Born in Madrid, LOLA GRECO started her studies at the age of 14 at the Spanish National Ballet School. Three years later, already a soloist, she performed as the younger sister in Rango, choreographed by Rafael Aguilar, based on Lorca’s La Casa de Bernarda Alba. Following this, she danced the role of Candelas in a production of Falla’s El amor brujo choreographed by José Antonio.
With her father José Greco’s company, she toured the United States, appearing to acclaim at the Kennedy Center and the Joyce Theater in New York. In 1990, she was invited by La Scala, Milan, to dance in their production of Verdi’s I vespri siciliani. The following year, she rejoined the National Ballet of Spain as a Guest Prima Ballerina to present Romance de Luna, choreographed by Antonio, in Spain and the United States. In 1992, she took part in the festival “Madrid en Danza,” dancing in Pathenopea, which was created for her by Marco Berriel. She has also appeared in various international festivals and galas, including “Giants of Dance” at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris.
Born in Seville in 1973, FRANCISCO VELASCO began to study dance at the age of six in Seville’s Music and Dance Conservatory. At 15, he joined the Andalusian Dance School under the direction of Juan Morilla and Matilde Coral. Velasco has studied Spanish dance under masters such as José Antonio, José Granero, Victoria Eugenia, and Paco Romero; classical dance under Marisol Delgado, Aurora Bach, Mirtha Pia, Virginia Valero, and Corina Ocaña; and flamenco under Matilde Coral, Rafael “El Negro,” “El Mimbre,” Juan Morilla, and Ciro.
In 1990, he joined the ranks of the National Ballet of Spain and soon afterwards began to appear as a soloist in ballets such as Antonio’s El sombrero de tres picos and Martinete, José Granero’s Medea and Bolero, Alberto Lorca’s Ritmos, Currillo’s A Ritmo y a Compás, Manolo Marin’s Concierto de Málaga, and Juanjo Linares and Pedro Azorin’s Romance. He has also taken leading roles in the ballets Danza y Tronio by Mariemma and Farruca by Juan Quintero. In January 1997, Francisco Velasco was appointed Lead Dancer of the National Ballet of Spain.
ALVARO LÓPEZ-GALIACHO PERONA began his dance studies at the age of eight. At 15, he enrolled in the Escuela del Ballet Nacional de España and was later given a scholarship to study in the northeastern city of Zaragoza. In 1984, he joined the Ballet de Zaragoza while continuing his studies in classical and Spanish dance. López-Galiacho finished his studies in classical and Spanish dance at the Real Conservatorio de Música, graduating with honors. He danced as a soloist in the opera Mefistofóles in the Teatro de la Zarzuela in 1986/87 and in various programs of television and zarzuela. In 1990, López-Galiacho joined the Ballet Nacional de España. Among the works he has danced with this company are Ritmos, Danza y Tronío, Bolero, Medea, La vida breve, and El sombrero de tres picos. López-Galiacho, with the Ballet Nacional de España, participated in the Gala Iberoamericana de Danza, with principal roles in La Gitanilla, Fantasía Gálica, and Romance, among others. As Sempronio in La Celestina, he was nominated for the Max de la Artes Escénica in 1998. He danced in the Commemorative Gala of the Twentieth Anniversary of the Ballet Nacional de España.
ESTHER MONTORO studied dance, drama, and voice at the Escuela del Ballet Nacional de España and the Real Conservatorio de Música. Her teachers included Antonio Campos, Victoria Eugenia, Aurora Pons, Juana Taft, Vicente Fuentes, María Luísa Castellanos, Inés Rivadeneíra, and María Ruiz. Montoro has worked with the Ballet Nacional de España, the Ballet Títular del Teatro de la Zarzuela, and with the dance company, Antología de la Zarzuela. She has appeared in television and movies under the direction of Carlos Saura in such dramas as Carmen and El amor brujo.
With the Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico, she has appeared in productions of Calígula, Lisistrata, El Gran Sultana, Don Gil de las Calzas Verdes, El Médico de su Honra, El Misántropo, El Acero de Madrid, and La Vida es Sueño. She is currently performing the role of the Dancing Actress in Subiendo al Sur (Climbing Toward the South) with Ibérica de Danza, and performing in the production of Mujeres (Women), dramatic monologues directed by Mercedes Lezcano.
NIEVES ROCHE NOGUERA began her dance studies at the age of seven in Valencia. She later moved to Barcelona where, in 1977, she studied at the Instituto del Teatro de Barcelona, obtaining degrees in Spanish dance and choreography. In 1982, Noguera joined the Compañía de Danza Española de Antonio Torres, and, in 1984, she formed her own dance company, G.E.B., which was awarded the Óscar López for the introduction of new trends in Spanish dance. Noguera joined the Ballet Nacional de España in 1985 and danced in such works as Ritmos, Doña Francisquita, Danza y Tronío, La Gitanilla, and Medea. Noguera appeared with the Ballet Nacional de España at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York in 1988 as well as in a Ballet Nacional de España/Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires co-production of La vida breve in Buenos Aires. Noguera has premiered new choreography in several instances – with the Ballet Nacional de España, Grito, and with Dirección Artística José Antonio, Bolero, El sombrero de tres picos, Laberinto, and Soleá. She danced in the Commemorative Gala of the Twentieth Anniversary of the Ballet Nacional de España.
JOSÉ PORCEL was born in Seville and began dancing Andalusian folk dances and flamenco at age 13 in Valencia. His formal dance studies began at age 16 in Valencia and continued in Madrid. In 1989, Porcel made his professional debut with Ballet de Valencia. In 1991, Porcel choreographed Te traigo el Sur, Miguel, a flamenco work, under the direction of flamenco expert Frederico Torres. He then founded a flamenco dance company which performed at Expo ’92 in Seville.
Porcel toured the United States in 1993 with La Compañía de Clara Ramona in a production of Carmina Burana. In 1994, Porcel joined the Ballet Nacional de España. With that company, he has performed in such works as Medea, Ritmos, Bolero, El sombrero de tres picos, Los Tarantos, Fantasía Gálica, Poeta, and Ballet Flamencos. He has had solo roles in Picaos, Hombre de Medea, and Soleá, a flamenco work, and principal roles in Danza y Tronío and Farruca, a flamenco work. Porcel premiered his production, Entrañas Flamencas, in the Festival de Flamenco del Palacio de la Música de Valencia in 1997. He danced in the Commemorative Gala of the Twentieth Anniversary of the Ballet Nacional de España.