He was born at Alcáçovas, Viana do Alentejo, on 20 June 1918, and died in Lisbon, Campolide, on 21 March 1999. He entered the Conservatório Nacional in Lisbon against his father’s will, where he concluded the Special Course of Dance and Choreography.
He was awarded a degree in Hispanic Studies by the Universidad Internacional Menendez Pelayo de Santander (Spain) and was granted scholarships by the Instituto de Alta Cultura, the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, the Spanish Ministry of Culture and the State Department of the United States of America. He trained at the Académie Nationale de la Danse under Serge Lifar’s supervision, at the Archives Internationales de la Danse, at the Italian Archives of theatre and dance and at some of the most prestigious American theatre schools. He was granted the Commend of the Ordem de Mérito and was created Doctor Honoris Causa by the Université de la Danse (Paris).
He also published Beja – À Descoberta do Passado and O Teatro da Trindade – 125 Anos de Vida and left unpublished, his Memoirs, O Teatro Moderno, A Dança Moderna e Pós Moderna, Danças Populares Tradicionais Portuguesas, Tentativa de uma Classificação das Danças Populares Portuguesas, O Ballet Russo e Soviético, Bosquejo histórico das Danças Tradicionais Portuguesas, the novels Prelúdio, Morte and Sonata a Quatro and also the plays Retrato de Senhora, Pedro e a Morte de Inês, A Única Mulher de Barba-Azul and O Grito de Medea.
He was buried at the Cemitério dos Prazeres, Lisbon, at the Talhão dos Artistas.
He was Archivist and Attaché to the Direction of the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, Secretary and Professor of the Centro de Estudos de Dança do Instituto para a Alta Cultura, Adjoint Director to the Teatro Nacional Doctorate. Maria II, Professor at the Escola de Teatro do Conservatório Nacional, the Instituto Superior de Novas Profissões and the Escola de Turismo do Algarve, Delegate of the Ministério e da Secretaria de Estado da Cultura na Região Sul (Algarve), Head of the Divisão de Etnografia e Folclore do I.N.A.T.E.L., Member of the Conselho Científico e Orientador de Seminários da Escola Superior de Dança do Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Member of the Portuguese Section of CIOFF - U.N.E.S.C.O., et cetera
