Background
Joaquin Cortes is a Spanish flamenco and ballet dancer of Gypsy blood who was born in Cordoba, Spain in 1969.
Joaquin Cortes is a Spanish flamenco and ballet dancer of Gypsy blood who was born in Cordoba, Spain in 1969.
Cortés showed interest in dancing from an early age. Cortés and his family moved to Madrid in 1981. Soon after moving to Madrid, he began to take formal dancing lessons and studying seriously.
In 1984, he was accepted as a member of the Spanish prestigious national ballet company.
When he was 15 years old he joined the Spanish National Ballet. In 1990 he began his solo career; he has worked with various companies and productions as a guest artist and choreographer.
As a member of the company, Joaquin Cortes was able to travel and perform around the world in prestigious theatres such as the Metropolitan Opera House in New York or the Kremlin’s Congress Palace in Moscow.
He also started to work with several different companies as a dance choreographer or as a visiting guest artist. Some of the highlighted performances include his work with the Summer Flamenco Festival in Tokyo, several performances at the Lincoln Center in New York and with the Caracas Ballet’s performance of “Don Quixote”.
Joaquin Cortes’ desire to have more control over the creative process led him to form his own dance company in 1992.
The result was the Joaquin Cortes Flamenco Ballet Company which focused on creating a fusion between flamenco, ballet and modern dance. Joaquin Cortes’ first show, called “Cibayí” went on to tour Spain, Japan, France, Italy Venezuela and the United States.
Joaquin Cortes was featured in two international films in 1995, including The Flower of My Secret by Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, and then started work on his most successful production to date called “Pasión Gitana” (Gypsy Passion), for which he earned international attention as a dancer, choreographer and artistic director. The show boasted a wardrobe designed by Giorgio Armani himself and went on to show performances in theatres and bull rings throughout Spain as well as throughout Europe. In fact, “Pasión Gitana” was shown at the closing ceremony of the Spoleto Festival in Italy and to more than 5,000 spectators at the Forum of Milan.
By 1996 the famous flamenco dancer toured the USA where he became the first Spanish dancer to perform his own show at Radio City Music Hall in New York before playing the Universal Amphitheatre of Los Angeles.
1997 saw Joaquin enter into the music business with the launching of his first CD with his band (also called Gypsy Passion). The Spanish flamenco artist collaborated on the CD by not only composing and directing the music but also by performing the percussion.
The success of the “Gypsy Passion” dance production led Joaquin Cortes to expand the show and create new choreographies. In 1997, the new production went on to tour Latin America and by 1998 it moved on to show in Sydney, Tokyo, Canada and New York.
In partnership with the choreographer Debbie Allen, he took part in the Oscar awards ceremony in 1999.
In January 2000 he starred in the film 'Gitano', written by Arturo Pérez Reverte and directed by Manuel Palacios. He has also played roles in films by Pedro Almodóvar and Carlos Saura.
In the 2000s, Joaquin Cortes has continued to appear in various forms of television, film, concerts and on stage. Although his public dancing performances have been infrequent, he has continued to participate in choreography and artistic direction.
In 2009 he staged his show 'Calé' at the Beacon Theatre in Manhattan.
Continuing into the millennium, Cortés' focus shifted from dancing to choreography and artistic direction. He continues to dance in a limited capacity live on stage, in film and television.
International success and high profile relationships with famous names such as Naomi Campbell, Giorgio Armani, and Mira Sorvino led Joaquin Cortes to be the subject of a documentary film in 1999.
In 2000, landed a role in the film 'Gitano' (Gypsy) and again in 2004 in 'Vaniglia e cioccolato' (Vanilla and Chocolate). In 2001, he also made a guest appearance on Jennifer Lopez's concert in Puerto Rico. In 2004, Cortés was involved in the international tour of 'De Amor y Odio' that took him to England, Portugal, Thailand and New York, among other places.
On May 15, 2007, the dancer was recognized for his talents on a high profile segment of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars program.
2007 marked the beginning of Joaquín Cortés most recent spectacle, 'Mi Soledad.' On 15 May 2007, he performed as a guest dancer in a high-profile semi-final segment on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars."
Cortes is also the visual inspiration for the character Vamp from the Metal Gear video game series.
Quotations: "Dance has become my first love and still is. I have dedicated my whole life to dance and I am happy that the dedication hasn't turned out to be a sacrifice of mine."
Joaquin performed as an actor in such movies as ‘The flower of my secret' ('La flor de mi secreto') in 1995, ‘Flamenco’in 1995, ‘Gypsy‘ ('Gitano') in 2000 and ‘Vanilia and Chocolate’ ('Vaniglia e Cioccolato') in 2004. Moreover he is not a stranger in the world of fashion. Flamenco created his ‘Glamorous model’ image. He became the face of several fashion magazines and publicity posters what made him even more popular.
