Cristina Hoyos made her LA Opera debut in 1992 with Carmen.
Born in Seville, Spain, she began dancing at the age of 12 in the children’s show Galas Juveniles. Her most important teachers include Adelita Domingo and Enrique El Cojo. In 1969, she joined Antonio Gades’s company as his dance partner. She stayed with the company for two decades, during which she not only travelled the world but also participated in a well-known cinematic trilogy directed by Carlos Saura: Bodas de Sangre ("Blood Wedding"), Carmen and El Amor Brujo (known in English as either "Love, the Magician" or "Wedded by Witchcraft"). In 1983, she traveled to Paris to play the starring role in Carmen. At the time, she was widely considered to be the greatest dancer to have ever played the part.
Since 1988, she has participated in many other movies and television programs, including Jaime de Armiñan’s Juncal, Vicente Escrivá’s Montoyas y Tarantos, and Manuel Huerga’s Antártida. She also appeared as herself in the biographical film Despacito y a compás ("Softly and to the Rhythm"). In 1989, she debuted her own company, Ballet Cristina Hoyos, in Paris with its first show, Sueños flamencos. Only one year later, it became the first flamenco dance company to perform at the Parisian opera house Palais Garnier, opening with overwhelming success. The company also presented the first flamenco performances at the Paris Opera and the Royal Swedish Opera. Cristina Hoyos later choreographed the opera Carmen, directed by Nuria Espert and Zubin Mehta, which was performed at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London.
In 1992, she performed in Yerma (Barren) and Lo Flamenco at the 1992 Seville Exposition, as well as both the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Barcelona. In 1994, she presented the show Caminos andaluces (Andalusian Pathways) at the Châtelet Theater in Paris. In 1996, she choreographed Cuadro flamenco based on the choreography of Peter Medak’s The Hunchback. It was performed at the Opera de Nice in France with a set made of works by Pablo Picasso. That same year, her new show, Arsa y Toma, premiered at the Avignon Opera with costume design by Christian Lacroix. In 1999, she presented Al compás del tiempo (To the Beat of the Time) and choreographed The Marriage of Figaro, directed by José Luis Castro, for the Maestranza Theater in Seville. In 2001, she danced and acted in Carmen 2, le retour, directed by Jerôme Savari. In 2002 she premiered Tierra adentro (Inland) at the Teatro Principal in Valencia. That year, the performance received the award for Best Show at the Valencia regional government (Generaltat)´s Performing Arts Awards.
In 2003, she presented Yerma (Barren), directed by José Carlos Plaza, to a crowd of over 60,000 at Los Jardines del Generalife at the Alhambra in Granada. In 2004, she was named the director of the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía (Andalusian Flamenco Ballet). In 2005, she presented the production Viaje al sur (Southward Journey), directed by Ramón Oller, in the Gran Teatro de Córdoba. During the summer of 2006, Cristina Hoyos introduced Romancero gitano (Gipsy Ballad) based on the work of Federico García Lorca. Directed by José Carlos Plaza, the show premiered in Los Jardines del Generalife at the Alhambra. The 46th Minas de la Unión flamenco festival later paid tribute to the production. José Carlos Plaza also directed her show Poema del Cante Jondo (Poem of the Deep Song) in June of 2009. Also based on Lorca’s work, the show debuted at the café Chinitas in Granada before touring around the world.
