The son and great-son of artists (his mother is a dancer and his grandfather a flamenco singer), Antonio Canales started dancing classes in the Andalusian capital. Signed by Victor Ullate, he became a soloist at the Spanish National Ballet in Madrid. From there, he moved to Italy where he met Maguy Marin who invited him to join his troupe in Paris. Antonio Canales stayed there for one year and took part in the creation of ‘Calambre’ (1985). When he got back to Spain, he dedicated himself to flamenco and kept being rewarded: in 1990, he was given the Best Dancer Prize in Mexico. In January 1992, he created his own company and started a new busines in Bilbao with dances such as ‘A Ti, Carmen Amaya’ and ‘Siempre Flamenco’. He then performed to Montreal and Madrid with his new show entitled ‘Torero’, which was presented some 700 times in Spain and at other international festivals. He went on with ‘Gitano’ and ‘Grito’ (1998) – collaborating with Lluis Pasqual as a scenic director- then ‘Fuerza Latina’ (1999), ‘Bailaor’ (2001), ‘Minotauro’ (2003). Besides being a dancer, he has entered the cinema industry thanks to Tony Gatlif with the movie ‘Vengo’, a true love declaration to Andalusian music.
In 2008, after a world tour (North America, Latin America and Europe), he came back with the resumption of famous ‘La Casa de Bernarda Alba’ which revisited the play by Federico Garcia Lorca and which was sold out for two months at the Gran Via Theatre in Madrid. Again, Lluis Pasqual, ex head of the Europe Theatre, directed the show. It was a powerful reflection on two major themes of Spanish art: Lorca’s tragedy and Picasso’s Guernica.
Ever since, Antonio Canales has not stopped amazing us with new shows, during which he goes beyond what one can expect.