Blanca Li facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Blanca Li
Li in 2011
Born	(1964-01-12) January 12, 1964 (age 61) Granada, Spain
Education	Martha Graham School
Occupation	Choreographer, film director, dancer, actress
Years active	1986-present
Current group	Blanca Li Dance Company
Dances	Contemporary dance, hip hop, flamenco, ballet, electro dance

Blanca Li (born January 12, 1964) is a famous Spanish choreographer, film director, dancer, and actress. She creates amazing dance shows, directs movies, and even acts!

Blanca Li has made dances for big stages like the Paris Opera Ballet and the Metropolitan Opera. She has also worked with famous filmmakers like Pedro Almodóvar and Michel Gondry. You might know her work from music videos for artists like Beyoncé, Daft Punk ("Around the World"), Paul McCartney, Kanye West, and Coldplay. She loves to bring her ideas to life, mixing many dance styles from flamenco to classical ballet and hip hop.

Becoming a Dancer

Blanca Li was born in 1964 in Granada, Spain, into a big family. She started learning flamenco dance as a child. When she was 12, she joined Spain's Rhythmic Gymnastics Team. But she had to leave before the Olympics due to health reasons. Still needing to move, she chose dance instead.

At 17, Blanca moved to New York City. For five years, she trained as a dancer and choreographer at the famous Martha Graham School. She also learned from other great dancers like Alvin Ailey and Merce Cunningham.

While living in Harlem, New York, Blanca saw the start of hip hop dance. Her first show in the East Village mixed different styles: classical, modern, and hip hop. In New York, she also met Etienne Li, who later became her partner.

With her sister, Blanca created a flamenco-rap band called Xoxonees. They danced in flamenco dresses and released an album in Spain in 1989. In the late 1980s, she started her first dance company in Madrid. They performed at the Universal Exposition of Seville in 1992.

Later that year, she moved to Paris, France. She worked in a cabaret, meeting singers and other artists.

Blanca Li Dance Company

In 1993, Blanca Li started her own contemporary dance company in Paris. Since then, they have created 14 major dance pieces. In 1998, she opened her own dance studios in Paris. Her shows often mix different art forms and have a fun, Latin sense of humor.

One of her most famous hip hop shows is Macadam Macadam. It was first performed in 1999 and became a big hit, touring all over the world. In 2006, Macadam Macadam won the Globes de Cristal for Best Musical. Blanca also created a solo show called Zap! Zap! Zap!, which was very popular in Paris and New York.

Blanca Li gets ideas from many places. She was inspired by Gnawa trance ceremonies from Morocco for her show Nana et Lila. Ancient Greek art inspired Le Songe du Minotaure. She also explored the craziness of modern life in Borderline (2002), working with artists Jorge and Lucy Orta.

Her show Corazón Loco mixed dancers with opera singers. Poet in New York was inspired by poems from Federico García Lorca about New York. This show was seen by nearly 150,000 people in Spain and Paris.

Li, NAO, dancers and crew of "Robot" at Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2015.

In 2013, the Blanca Li Dance Company celebrated 20 years. They had four shows touring:

• Macadam Macadam continued with a new team of hip hop dancers.
• Garden of Earthly Delights was a dream-like show based on a painting by Hieronymus Bosch.
• Elektro Kif was one of the first shows to feature the new “electro” street dance style. This dance started in France and became popular worldwide.
• Robot was a unique show that included Japanese artists Maywa Denki and NAO robots. It was praised for showing new ways to use robots on stage. Robot was also performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York in 2015.

Other Projects

Besides her own company, Blanca Li has created many projects for big institutions.

She has choreographed and directed operas, including La vida breve and El amor brujo. In 1999, the Paris Opera asked her to create a modern dance for the Baroque opera Les Indes galantes. This show is still part of the Opera's regular performances. In 2001, the famous Paris Opera Ballet asked Blanca Li to create a new ballet for Scheherazade, with costumes by Christian Lacroix.

From 2001, Blanca Li was the artistic director and choreographer for the Berlin Ballet in Germany. She created new versions of her shows for them. In 2003, she choreographed for the opera William Tell at the Paris Opéra Bastille. She also choreographed Don Giovanni at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 2004.

Blanca Li also works in visual arts. In 2008, she had her first art exhibition called "I’ll teach you how to dance" at the MUSAC museum in Spain. In 2009, she created an interactive art project in Madrid called "Come dance with me." Tens of thousands of people danced in the streets! A similar event, "The Dance Fest," happened at the Grand Palais in Paris in 2011, with over 15,000 people joining in.

She has also staged many fashion shows and events for famous brands like Stella McCartney, Hermès, and Jean-Paul Gaultier.

Film and Music Videos

Blanca Li has also been very active in movies, advertising, and music videos. She has choreographed for films like Mood Indigo and I'm So Excited. She has also worked on commercials for brands like Perrier and Gap.

You can see her choreography in music videos like Daft Punk's "Around the World" and Coldplay's "True Love".

Blanca Li has directed her own films too. Her first short film, Angoisse, won four "Best Film" awards. Her first feature film, The Challenge (Le Défi), was a hip hop musical comedy released in 2002. She was the director, choreographer, dancer, and actress in it! The film was very popular in France and was shown at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

In 2009, she acted in the film Change of Plans. She also directed a short film called For Her. Her second feature film as a director, Step by Step, was a documentary about how her show Corazon Loco was created. She also directed TV versions of her shows Elektro Kif and Robot.

Her film Robot, director's cut premiered in New York in 2015. Her fifth feature film, Elektro Mathematrix, is a musical based on her Elektro Kif stage show.

Awards and Honors

From 2006 to 2010, Blanca Li was the artistic director of the Andalusian Center of Dance in Seville, Spain. She helped create a hip hop section and worked to save a traditional Spanish dance style called Escuela Bolera.

Blanca Li has received many important awards. In France, she was made an Officer of the Legion of Honour by President François Hollande in 2014. She also received honors from the French Ministry of Culture and the French Ministry of European Affairs.

In Spain, the King gave her the 2009 Gold Medal of Fine Arts. This award honors 20 major figures in arts and culture. In 2004, she received the Manuel de Falla Prize for her work in modern dance. In 2013, she was even added to the popular French dictionary Petit Larousse.

In 2019, Blanca Li was chosen to be a permanent member of the new choreography department at the French Académie des Beaux-Arts. In October 2019, she became the artistic director of Los Teatros del Canal in Madrid, Spain.

Blanca Li Dance Company Shows

Here are some of the main shows created by the Blanca Li Dance Company:

• Nana et Lila (1993)
• Central Station (1994)
• Salomé (1995)
• Stress (1997)
• Le Songe du Minotaure (1998)
• Macadam Macadam (1999) - Won "Cristal Globe" for Best Show.
• Zap! Zap! Zap! (1999) - A one-woman show.
• Borderline (2002)
• Al Andalus (2004)
• Alarme (2004)
• Corazon Loco (2007)
• Poeta en Nueva York (2007) - Won "Premios Max" for Best Choreography.
• Le Jardin des Délices (2009) - Inspired by a painting.
• Elektro Kif (2011) - Featured "electro" dancers.
• Robot (2013) - Included dancers and robots.

Films Directed by Blanca Li

Blanca Li has directed several films:

Fiction Films

• Angoisse (1997) - A short film that won several awards.
• La paella (2000) - A short film.
• Le Défi (Dance Challenge) (2002) - A hip hop musical feature film.
• The Chicken (2002) - A short film.
• Home Fitness (2007) - A short film.
• Pour Elle (2009) - A short film for a TV series.
• Feathers (2014) - A short film for a hair design collection.
• Elektro Mathematrix (2015) - A musical feature film based on her stage show.
• BlancaLi360 (2015) - An experimental short film for 360° virtual reality.

Documentaries

• Al Andalús (2006) - A filmed choreography for TV.
• Pas à pas (2009) - A documentary about creating her show Corazon Loco.
• Elektrokif (2013) - A filmed choreography for TV.
• Robot (2013) - A filmed choreography for TV.
• Robot Director's cut (2014) - A special version of the Robot film.

See also

In Spanish: Blanca Li para niños