Male flamenco dancer |
Choreographer |
| Name:Juan Manuel Fernández Montoya |
| Birth: 1982 Sevilla |
"Directing my family is a very big head-ache at the same time as it makes me proud"
|
|
In spite of his young age, Juan Manuel Fernandez Montoya 'Farruquito' has become the patriarch of his family, one of the ones which has the strongest flamenco tradition. He is the son of the cantaor (flamenco singer) Juan Fernández Flores, El Moreno, and of the bailaora (female flamenco dancer) Rosario Montoya Manzano, La Farruca, and he is the heir of the tradition of his grandfather El Farruco, alongside whom he made his debut in Broadway when he was five years old. A child-prodigy of the dance scene, when he was eight he was already performing in his first season at the Sala Zambra in Madrid, at eleven he appeared in the video for 'Camarón Nuestro' and, the following year he was featured in the film 'Flamenco' by Carlos Saura alongside the patriarch of his lineage, El Farruco.
In 1997, his grandfather's death meant that he had to take over his role: at fifteen years of age, Farruquito took on the responsibility for perpetuating his lineage and created his first show, 'Raíces flamencas' (Flamenco Roots), with which he made his debut in the Royal Albert Hall in London, and enjoyed a great success in Madrid, Barcelona, and in his international tours in France and Japan.
In 2001, he presented La Len Varo in the 1st Flamenco Festival USA, and the New York Times considered him "the best artist to set foot in the Big Apple in 2001", which resulted in him going back to the United States in 2003, when the North American critics were won over once again by Farruquito and his brother Farru. The premiere performance of his latest show, entitled 'Alma Vieja', was staged in November 2003 in Seville, and it is a show in which he is accompanied by a sizeable part of his family, and through which he pays tribute to the dynasty of artists that was started by El Farruco.
Farruquito was chosen as one of the most beautiful people in the world by the US magazine 'People', and he has received several awards, such as the Premio Público, the Premio Flamenco Hoy, the Premio Telón Chivas '04 and the prize of the Asociación Profesional de la Danza y el Espectáculo (Dance and Performing Arts Professional Association). The bailaor is also the figurehead of the dance academy that spreads the precepts of the Farruco tradition in Seville. At present, he is undergoing judicial proceedings against him for running someone over, killing him, and for this reason he has to appear in court at regular intervals. |
|
Complete listing of Farruquito products: |
| |
| |
|
| Products
in which
Farruquito has
taken part: |
|
María
 Niña Pastori
Price: US$ 26.73
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
News
about Farruquito: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
