M a r í a P a g é s
Original flamenco dancer and choreographer
Acknowledged at home in Spain and abroad as one of the leading innovators in the development and redefinition of modern flamenco, María's involvement with Riverdance - The Show stems from her collaboration with Riverdance composer Bill Whelan on The Seville
Suite, which Bill was commissioned to compose as part of Ireland's contribution to Expo '92 at the Maestranza in Seville. 
María Pagés began her professional career with the Antonio Gades Company, appearing in Carmen and Bodas de sangre. Her mentors have included such renowned figures as Manolo Marín, Matilde Coral, María Magdalena and Manolo Valdivia. María is internationally recognized for her personal aesthetic interpretation of the art of flamenco. By using classical aspects of flamenco, her work brings the genre up to date, alongside other arts, expanding its horizons and paving the way for the future of flamenco dance.
In 1990, she founded her own dance company and staged her first work, Sol y sombra, which brought her unprecedented critical and public acclaim. Another work, De la luna al viento, first staged in 1994, was directed by José María Sánchez, and was described by critics as "a dazzling demonstration of everything that is dance". Since the beginning of her association with Riverdance, Maria has been one of the principal dancers in the show and was given her the opportunity by John McColgan to choreograph flamenco-inspired pieces, composed by Bill Whelan.
In her time, she has been Director of the Centro Andaluz de Danza, for which she created El perro andaluz Burlerías, that company's most emblematic dance piece, for which
she was awarded the National Choreography Prize (ADE). She is a member of the National Dance Council and of the Artistic Committee of the Granada International Music and Dance Festival. She has worked with three-time Oscar winner, Carlos Saura on Carmen, El Amor brujo
and Flamenco. Storaro chose to photograph Maria in order to give concrete expression to his vision of dance as a form of sculpture. His photograph was used as the film poster when Flamenco opened in Japan.
Her recent work, La Tirana, was first staged in 1998 at the X Flamenco Biennial in Seville. It was also staged in Madrid as part of the Autumn Festival, where it was a major success. July 1999 saw a presentation of La Tirana at the Cologne Festival, where, for two weeks, the Cologne Philharmonic was packed into a 2000-seat arena. German critics have described her thus: "María Pagés: the goddess is human". In June 1999, the authorities at Torrelodones gave María the Teatro Bulevar as headquarters for her company, making it the resident company in that town.
Married with one young son, María divides her time, when she is not on tour with Riverdance - The Show, between Seville and Rome where her husband, the Spanish scriptwriter and director José María Sanchez, is currently based.
* * * Biography of María Pagés thanks to Riverdance Online * * *