María Juncal
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María Juncal | |
|---|---|
 María Juncal (2013) | |
| Born | ca. 1981 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain |
| Occupation | flamenco dancer |
María Juncal (b. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, ca. 1981)[1] is a Spanish flamenco dancer who has toured in Belgium, Canada, China, Cuba, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, the U.S., and Venezuela.[2] She has participated in different shows such as Jarocho under the direction of Richard O'Neal, assistant director of Riverdance, and has collaborated as a choreographer with Spain's women's national artistic gymnastics team, 2012. In addition to receiving the Excelencias Cuba Award 2018 2018 for her work in developing Cuban flamenco art,[3] and winning the Antonio Gades National Award of Flamenco Dance, she was voted the best flamenco dancer at the Festival Del Cante De Las Minas.[4]
María Juncal was born into a family with flamenco roots, the Borrull family.[5]
Juncal's family members involved in flamenco history include her grandmother, great-grandmother, great-great-grandmother, aunts, and uncles. A painting (La Algeria) of an aunt (Aunt Julia) in mid-dance is held in Madrid’s Museo del Prado. Miguel Borull, Julia Borull, Concha Borull, Isabel Borull, and Mercedes Borull (La Gitana Blanca) are family members.[6]
Juncal began her career studying ballet and classical Spanish dance in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where she was a student of Miguel Navarro, Rosalina Ripoll, and her great-aunt, Trini Borrull.[4] Later, Juncal continued her studies at the Centro de Arte Flamenco y Danza Española Amor de Dios in Madrid. Among the teachers who trained her were Cristóbal Reyes, La Tati, El Güito, Manolete, Ciro, and Merche Esmeralda in flamenco; Nadine Boisaubert and Dagmara Brown in ballet; and Trini Borrull and Rosalina Ripoll in classical Spanish dance.
Juncal has been in charge of the artistic and general direction of different shows that she performs with her company, such as: "La gitana Blanca", "Azabache y miel", "Murmullos y Geranios", "Instantes", "Destemplao", "La Hora de los Milagros", "Tercera Llamada junto al Gran maestro Ciro", and "Quimera".[7]
In 2011, she made a documentary entitled Flamenco de raíz,[8] which was nominated for five Goya Awards.[9][6]