The Men of Flamenco

One of my members in my Online Flamenco Studio, a male, asked me if I had any videos showing the proper hand movement for men. I don’t…yet. You see, I usually teach women because that’s who shows up to my classes! (I’ll have to change that way of thinking for my studio online, though.)

But if you’re in flamenco, you know that in Spain there are just as many amazing male dancers as there are women. Plus they have so many different styles: traditional and strong, avant garde, contemporary, balletic. There’s no one ideal male style. It all comes down to personal expression. There can be super clean lined dancers vs. macho and full of bravado dancers. There can be flowery hands as well as none existent hands.  And they’re all perfect in their own way, especially how they tend to attack the footwork, which is something universal among the men. OLE!

I leave you here with a sampling of my favorite male dancers and why I love them. Enjoy. Let me know which ones are your favorites and if you have any others to add.

🙂 Rina

Los Farruco

This band of brothers, Farruquito, Farruco and El Carpeta, are part of a dynasty of flamenco dancers known as Los Farruco. Their power is legendary as they attack the compás and dance with complete abandon. This video shows a rehearsal of the brothers in a dynamic and syncopated piece. But the best part is in the end when Farruquito’s little son shows up. Crazy, talented family.

Andres Peña

His style is definitely more traditional and refined yet earthy. He usually performs with his partner Pilar Ogalla (whom I adore!)

Domingo Ortega

Domingo definitely is one of the most musical dancers out there. His breaks and escobillas are very musical with crazy strong accents. His style is very masculine yet he shows moments of softness. He also tends to simmer during his dance and then explodes with intricate breaks.

Manuel Liñán

Manuel Liñán is a chameleon while dancing. Here he shows his funky chops, but in other performances he’s been known to dance with a bata de cola AND a mantón. What? And he looks amazing doing it!

Israel Galvan

Love him or hate him, Israel is the king of flamenco avant garde and a musical genius.

Niño de los Reyes

This one is such a strong dancer! Contemporary and masculine in his lines, funky syncopation, and playful. Love him!

Jesus Carmona

Jesus is a crazy trained dancer. You can see he has ballet training or at least a lot of studio training from all his clean lines and turns. But he’s just beautiful to watch because of his sheer endless energy while dancing. He makes it look so easy.

Rafael Campallo

Rafael is another contemporary dancer with clean lines yet with more of a grounded energy.

Marco Flores

Also another highly trained dancer with lots of grace and power. This is a fun rehearsal at Amor de Dios in Madrid for one of his shows.

Isaac de Los Reyes

Isaac is Niño’s brother and is a BEAST of a dancer. This video features himself and Paloma Fantova (another beast of a dancer). You can see him sporting the Khal Drogo look (for you Game of Thrones fans).

Ivan Vargas

Ivan is an energetic powerhouse with tons of aire. We’re lucky that he frequents the United States 😉

Antonio El Pipa

Antonio is definitely old school in his styling, meaning very sharp masculine lines and poses. But he also has amazing hands!

Photo credit: Antonio Gades (1936-2004) was a legendary and influential flamenco dancer most known for his powerful Farruca. He was also feature in Carlos Saura’s flamenco trilogy, Carmen, Bodas de Sangre and Amor Brujo.