Adrián Santana
The Second Prize winner of the 58th International Festival of Cante de Las Minas de la Union, was born in Malaga and comes from a family of artists. His uncle Pepito Vargas, a well-known flamenco dancer, taught him all his knowledge about the art of flamenco. He continued to study at Conservatorio Profesional de Danza de Málaga.
At the age of seventeen, he joined the cast of choreographer Carmen Mota where he worked as a soloist for five years. He then worked for Jose Porcel’s flamenco company in London, the company of Camborio and Lucia del Real at the Rome Opera “La Traviata”, the production of Paco Mora in the Bienal de Flamenco de Malaga, the company of Aida Gomez, the show “Flamenco Hoy” by Carlos Saura sharing the stage with artists like Concha Jareño, Pastora Galvan and Rocio Molina. He also has worked at Flamenco Festival USA, “Dressed to Dance” presented the Guggenheim Museum in New York led by Margaret Jova and choreographed by Carlos Chamorro sharing the stage with artists like María Pagés, Manuel Liñan and Rocío Molina among others.
In 2010 he received 2nd Prize at XIX Certamen de Coreografía de Danza Española y Flamenco de Madrid with his piece “Siempre me pasa lo mismo", subsequently presented in the Sala Pradillo in Madrid to great acclaim. He has participated as a part of the best dance companies highlighting Aída Gómez, Carlos Saura, Manuel Liñán/Daniel Doña, Margaret Jova productions, Carlos Chamorro and Rocío Molina, sharing the stage with artists such as María Pagés, Lola Greco, Javier Latorre, Belén Maya, Pastora Galván, Nani Paños, Concha Jareño and Rafael Estévez on stages and festivals such as Festival de Jerez, Seville Biennial and the Acropolis in Greece, Flamenco Festival London/New York, among many others. He has been directed by prestigious artists such as Antonio Canales and master Granero in different productions and is been well known in the tablaos Villa Rosa, Las Carboneras, Casa Patas, El Corral de la Moreria and El Arenal. He has been performing in “NOMADA” by Cia. Manuel Liñan. He was invited and performed with City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong in 2013 and 2014.
He also presented his own production “SIMBIOSIS” at Los Veranos del Corral at Corral del Carbon in Granada in August 2014 and Biennal de Flamenco Malaga in May 2015. He was invited as a residence teacher at University of New Mexico for a month and performed "SIMBIOSIS” at 30th anniversary Festival de flamenco in Albuquerque, one of the biggest flamenco festival in the world, in 2017 as one of the leading artists. The latest own production is “Las Cuatro Esquinas del Perchel” presented at Teatro Cervantes de Malaga, VI Bienal de arte flamenco de Malaga in 2019.
He also collaborated with Esencia Flamenca HK to present his show “La Partida” in Hong Kong and Japan in 2016 and in SuZhou 2018 and "El Encuentro" in Hong Kong in 2017, "Convivencia" in Fukuoka and Tokyo Japan in 2017, Hong Kong, Kyoto, Tokyo tour in 2018. “The Elements” in Hong Kong and Suzhou, china in 2019.
In addition to his experience as a dancer, he teaches courses in different cities and conservatories in Spain and also around the world such as Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, USA, Israel and more.