¡VIVA!

Moving between genders has never been as light-hearted and powerful as in this performance, a flamenco playground where the vital primal power of flamenco is celebrated without limits. VIVA! is an exuberant cry for freedom of movement, an ode to the polyphony of the body. A candid story about queer identity in the flamenco world. Bursting with joie de vivre and rhythms.

MANUEL LIÑAN

Winner of the 2017 Spanish National Dance Award, dancer/ choreographer/Director Manuel Liñan was born in Granada and studied with the legendary Manolete and Mario Maya. He was invited on numerous occasions to choreograph shows by the National Ballet of Spain, the New Spanish Ballet, and the companies of Rafaela Carrasco and Teresa Nieto, and went on to collaborate with Daniel Doña in the show REW.
In 2008, Manuel began his solo career, premiering with Tauro. Later he continued with Mundo y Aparte and Sinergia, shows that gave him the opportunity to perform at such prestigious festivals as the Jerez Festival, where he received the 2012 New Artist Award for Dance. The following year he was awarded the Max Award for Performing Arts as the Best Male Dancer and the Flamenco Hoy Critics Choice Award for Best Dancer. In 2014, he premiered Nómada at the Jerez Festival, displaying his gifts as an extraordinary dancer and choreographer, and later performed the show at the world’s leading festivals.
In 2016, he presented Reversible at major international festivals, including the Nîmes Festival, the Flamenco Biënnale Nederland and the Flamenco Festival of London, as well as won the Critics Choice Award at the Jerez Festival. In 2021, he premiered his new work, Pie de Hierro and he continues to tour this work with great success nationally and internationally.

Prss quotes about Manuel Liñán & Compañia

'Flamenco Dancers Who ‘Move Between Genders’ Manuel Liñán’s “Viva!” represents something new to mainstream flamenco audiences: a frank and joyful expression of gay identity.' - The New York Times

"Destined for Bullfighting, He Chose to Revolutionize Flamenco Instead–by Dancing in Drag" - The New Yorker

“Liñán’s gift is transcendental. He awakens rhythms, images, wildest possibilities of dance, and banishes the predictabilities of sitting in a theatre watching carefully staged flamenco” - The Financial Times, UK

“Manuel Liñán is the kind of creator who will make new fans for the genre, with his unique brand of fearless, innovative flamenco” - The Upcoming, UK.

"What we're talking about here is a priceless ability to combine classy showmanship and stylish design with fizzing invention and honest-to-goodness charisma. Bring him back next year, Sadler's, and for more than one night - this is the kind of flamenco everyone should see." - The Arts Desk, U