Concha Vargas

Concha Vargas Torres was born into an old Gypsy family in the town of Lebrija in Andalucia, southern Spain. As a child she was surrounded by the music of many of the great artists of that day who were close friends of her father, Quintín Vargas. Frequent visitors to her home included Juan Talega and Antonio Mairena, whose knee she remembers sitting on as a child. Concha’s family is directly related to both of the two great Gypsy singing families, the Pinini’s and the Peñas. Her heritage is the pure Gypsy Flamenco that is the root of her dynamic, fiery style. Concha debuted at a young age as a dancer in the Gazpacho de Morón in the company of such diverse and great artists as Diego del Gastor, Chocolate, Terremoto and the incredible sisters of Utrera, La Fernanda and La Bernarda. In 1974 she debuted in Madrid at Los Canasteros at the side of Manolo Caracol and danced as a partner of El Güito. From there she became the dance partner of Mario Maya and performed with him in his work “Camelamos Naquerar”, touring Europe and part of the Americas with him in 1976. Her work with Mario Maya in “Ay Jondo”, in 1980 is documented in the Rito Y Geografía del Baile video collection series (#4). During this period, Ms. Vargas also performed in the great festivals of Spain with many great artists who are now history. In 1986 Ms. Vargas went to India to dance for Indira Gandhi. When the Gypsy community went to Rome to receive an audience, Concha was invited to dance for the Pope in the Vatican. Ms. Vargas continued to dance in many of the European countries with guitarist Pedro Bacan and other members of the great Pinini family, performing the show “Los Pininis”. She has continued to give performances and dance workshops internationally as well as throughout Spain. Concha Vargas took a break from her busy schedule to birth two sons and a daughter who now also play music and dance in the family tradition. Ms. Vargas currently teaches full classes at La Carboneria in Seville and repeatedly travels to Japan, Germany, Italy and France to give dance performances and workshops to her continually growing number of dedicated students. Concha performed with Miguel Funi, La Bernarda, and others in the Bienal 2000 in Sevilla and was dubbed by the press the Queen of Seville (La Reina de Sevilla) following that performance. In November 2000 Concha toured part of United States with Macanita and Curro Fernandez. She performed and taught in New York, Chicago and Albuquerque. She also toured and taught with this group in France and Japan. In March of 2001 she performed as a guest artist in Jerez with the major dance artist Antonio El Pipa and was called “La Reina de Jerez” (the Queen of Jerez) by the newspapers there. Her success, since her reemergence into public life, continues to skyrocket. Judging from press reviews, interviews, and the demand for her performances and workshops, Concha Vargas’ pure Gypsy style of Flamenco has become legendary in her own time. You should create your own MySpace Layouts like me by using nUCLEArcENTURy .COM's MySpace Profile Editor !