Antonio Najarro

A dancer and choreographer, Antonio Najarro graduated with honors in Spanish dance from the Royal Conservatory Professional of Dance Mariemma in Madrid.

He has performed as principal dancer in works choreographed by renowned figures including Rafael Aguilar, Antonio Gades, Alberto Lorca, Mairemma, Jose Antonio Ruiz and Jose Granero. 

Antonio began his professional career at the age of 15 when he joined dance companies including Ballet Anthology, Ballet of the Lyric Theater of La Zarzuela, Antonio Márquez Company, José Antonio and the Spanish Ballets and Aída Gómez Company. He quickly rose to first dancer in the programs of Mariemma, José Granero, Alberto Lorca, José Antonio, Antonio Gades, among others

In 1996 Antonio performed as a guest soloist in La Gitana, choreographed by José Antonio Ruiz and Paul Chalmer, with the Ballet del’Arena di Verona under the direction of Carla Fracci.

He joined the prestigious Spanish National Ballet (BNE) in 1997 under the direction of Aurora Pons, Nana Lorca and Victoria Eugenia.  Within three years he rose to the category of first dancer when Aída Gómez took over the artistic direction of the company.

Antonio’s passion for creation led him to choreography and he began participating in various editions of the Certamen Coreográfico de Danza Española y Flamenco de Madrid, a competition where he won first prize in the VIII edition.  

In 2002 Antonio started his own company, Compania Antonio Najarro, where he created four productions, Tango Flamenco (2002), FlamencOriental (2006), Jazzing Flamenco (2008) and Suite Sevilla (2011) that toured throughout Spain, Europe, Latin America, US and Japan. 

Antonio’s talent spread into the sports world where he worked with Olympic and world figure skating champions creating, their competitive and show programs. He created the flamenco program for French ice dancers Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat, bringing them to the top of the Olympic podium at the 2002 Olympic Games when they won the gold medal. He also worked with European and world champion Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland as well as Javier Fernandez, who became the first Spaniard to ever win a world figure skating championship. In 2018 Antonio also collaborated with coach Mayu Fujiki to choreograph for the Spanish National Artistic Swim Team. 

Antonio Najarro was named director of the Spanish National Ballet in 2011. To date, he was the youngest director of the Spanish National Ballet. He replicated the classic works of the company including Danza y Tronío by Mairemma, el Bolero by Rafael Aguilar, Ritmos by Alberto Lorca, Medea by Granero and Viva Navarra by Victoria Eugenia, among others. In addition Antonio expanded the company’s repertoire with his new creations including the first production of Ángeles Caídos, reuniting the talent of Rafaela Carrasco, Rocío Molina, Olga Pericet, Javier Latorre, Manuel Liñán y Rubén Olmo. Antonio introduced his own creations to the Spanish National Ballet including Suite Sevilla, Alento, Eterna Iberia, Icaro and Sorolla, inspired by the collection of “Visions of Spain” by the painter Joaquín Sorolla.

Learn more at AntonioNajarro.com.