We would like to pay our respects and acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land and also pay our respects to elders both past, present and emerging.
Always was, always will be.
Shows uniquely created by multi awarded choreographer Marina Tamayo
Flamenco Australia is an Australian based Spanish dance agency.
Led by Marina Tamayo, the agency provides professional services in performance, choreography, story telling design and production.
Marina Tamayo, Zilah in Carmen by Benjamin Millepied Sony Classics Pictures, Goalpost Pictures , 2023 – Choreographer/dancer.
Marina Tamayo celebrates an illustrious 45 years career of performance, teaching, producing and choreographing. Tamayo’s skills are embedded in authentic storytelling handed down from her Spanish heritage and gypsy cultural knowledge.Her studies of Flamenco began traditionally, at home with her mother de Granada, and in Sacromonte with her abuela. Her first Flamenco studies began in 1982, in Granada with the local gitanos.
After a life time dedicated to Flamenco and Spanish dance, Tamayo shares her mastery worldwide teaching, speaking and performing.
Flamenco Australia (c. 1998) is dedicated to promoting and preserving Spanish and gypsy cultural storytelling. Flamenco Australia works closely alongside professional Australian and international industry leaders. Our specialty is Spanish dance, we work across all sectors including film, television, video, theatre, and we also do fashion runway, promotional and marketing campaigns. We collaborate with award winning vineyards, airlines, designers, award winning Spanish chefs, leading hospitality venues, and five star event planners.
As a seasoned artist, Tamayo brings Flamenco and Spanish and gypsy Dance Theatre excitement to your event or project. The services include commercial, artistic explorative, contemporary and traditional formats.
Represented Flamenco Australia with Rossy d Palma y Maria Pages INTERNATIONAL DANCE DAY 2021 – DIA INTERNACIONAL DE LA DANZA 2021 by Maria Pages, Spain. El Centro Coreográfico María Pages de Fuenlabrada, por segundo año consecutivo ha creado un vídeo para conmemorar el Dia Internacional de la Danza.
Marina Tamayo Flamenco is a Sydney based Flamenco choreographer and dance artist. She is on the board of AUSDANCE NSW, a registered and accredited teacher with the New South Wales Education Department, a trained Project Manager, composer and qualified Production Engineer and recently awarded a Fellowship by the Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Sydney.
Tamayo studied ballet in RAD and cecchetti. In Flamenco, she studied Spanish Dance at her local Ballet school with Jacqueline Thompson in 1978 – 1983 and Antonio Vargas. In 1984, she went to Spain to study privately with Paco Torres, de Granada. Later on, she studied with Mario Maya, Manolete, then later in 2001 – 2015 with their contemporaries Belen Maya, Luis de Luis, Manuel and Antonio Reyes, extending her style to Spanish classical technique’s with Graciela Rios Saiz in Buenos Aires and Merche Esmeralda in Madrid.
As a dance teacher, Marina Tamayo has a masters knowledge for Spanish cultural choreography and offers authenticity consultation services. In practise, she draws on various strategies of teaching including scaffolding and differentiation, for inclusive teaching. With her Bachelor of Education, she offers regular teaching services to performing arts schools, academic institutions and communities.
As a choreographer, Marina Tamayo is a Nationally recognised professional. Since 1982, Tamayo began developing works for her local ballet school for Eisteddfods, regional ballet and ballroom centres, calisthenics competition schools, fitness centres and professional dance groups. Since then, she has dedicated over 40 years, producing Spanish dance works for Australian theatre, cabaret, fashion, health resorts, TV, video and film.
The unique blend between Flamenco, ballet, contemporary and Spanish dance has become signatory in all Tamayo’s work. This has generated a new market for Australian audiences who are experiencing the passion, grace and fire of these worlds coming together. This blend results in pioneering and building an expanded market for traditionally grounded contemporary Spanish shows and training in Australia.
Tamayo has appeared as a soloist performer and choreographer on Channel 10, 9, 7, ABC, Disney kids, SKY and SBS programs, as well as music videos, documentaries, short and international feature film.
“Tamayo’s solos are wild and expressive; soft arms are a foil for the complexity of her lower body” Lesley Graham, The Mercury, 2017.
As a performer, Tamayo is a solo artist for Spanish and Flamenco Dance. Tamayo has performed globally and featured in contemporary dance festivals, cultural events, fashion events, VIP Functions, marketing campaigns, commercial cabaret RSL shows , independent and commercial television, video pop, international and local film, celebrity and bespoke celebrity events.
2001, post COVID and Tamayo returned to the stage as a soloist. She performed at the Adelaide International Film Festival for the Australian premiere of Carmen by Benjamin Millepead and Goalpost Pictures with a private invitation to perform at Nathalie Portmans private birthday, and was the invited soloist at The National Gallery of Victoria, for the Centurian Picasso curators dinner, Winter series, July 2022.
In 1998, Tamayo founded Flamenco Australia. After arriving in Sydney and struggling to find dance work, in either teaching or performance Marina knew she needed to do something to create opportunities. The purpose was to find work, then it became to create opportunities for other artists and engage audiences, making Spanish arts accessible and relevant in the Australian community.
As a self funded venture, Tamayo started touring to rural and past the black stump locations, offering communities workshops, and shows. One may say the work was a pioneering venture for the Spanish Arts, but it was all familiar for this daughter of a Spanish immigrants raised on the river lands of South Australia.
The demand for Tamayo’s services grew exponentially. After moving to NSW in 1998, Tamayo expanded her audience engagement into international markets. This was achieved by bringing Spanish artists together providing professional service support in logistics, salaries, touring and creating self funded opportunities to perform, teach and collaborate. Tamayo educated herself in various skills and this supported her business acumen. her focus on creating new audiences, either as participants or observers through education, delivered in classes and performances paid off, with classes growing on demand and shows were in abundance across QLD, NSW, SA, Victoria, Tasmania and New Zealand.
In 2018, Tamayo was formally recognised by the Australian Dance Council for her contributions to the Australian Arts industry. She was nominated in the The Australian Dance Awards 2018, for her ‘Service to Dance’.
In 2019, Tamayo was nominated by the Australia Dance Council, for her choreographic Spanish contemporary work EMERALD. The nomination was for the category ‘Outstanding Achievement in Choreography’.
Marina Tamayo Award for Outstanding Achievement in choreography
2023, Tamayo was awarded by Professor Ian Bofinger Executive Dean and Dr. Maya Gavish, a Fellowship of AMPA from the the Faculty of Dance Performance at the 2023 Graduation ceremony of Bachelor, Masters of Dance.
Photo by Marina Tamayo Fellowship Award Wenny Tan, AMPA, 2023
Marina Tamayo Fellowship Award, Photo by Wenny Tan, AMPA 2023
Marina Tamayo Fellowship Award, Photo by Wenny Tan, AMPA 2023
In 2018 – 2021, Tamayo worked with Classical Ballet 121, fulltime classical ballet academy, with Gilly Reevie. She was asked to write and prepare the exam curriculum for the Spanish and Flamenco dance studies in the Australian Teachers of Dancing full time Certificate 4 and Advanced Diploma in Elite Performance course, 2021.
Tamayo designed and delivered school incursions for a period of 18 years. These incursions are aligned to cultural dance curriculum for K to HSC levels (NESA Syllabus). In addition, she has contributed to various academic PhD papers on Flamenco and duende. These contributions are formal research papers, sharing her knowledge and experience in Flamenco to the academia in Australia.
Some recent research includes, The University of Sydney Ms Lillian Shaddick and Dr Amanda Card at Discipline of Theatre and Performance Studies; Bond University, Leisurely seeking duende; Making meaning through the embodied experience of flamenco dance; Grant Sean Hawkes, University of Sydney; Spanish : What is Flamenco?; ABC Radio Melbourne with Warwick Long, Flamenco and its Roots, ABC Hobart, Flamenco and Duende.
Recent Projects
During COVID (2019 – 2021), Tamayo engaged in working with former Artistic Director of The American Ballet and current AD for Los Angeles Dance ProjectBenjamin Millepead. Benjamin Millepied is a choreographer, filmmaker, and former principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet and former Artistic Director of Paris Ballet Opera.
Review 7/9/2022 Jazz Tangcay: for VARIETY U.S Edition
“Millepied’s movie, is a complete re-imagining, debuting Sept. 11 at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival released by Sony Pictures Classics, begins in Mexico with a jaw-dropping flamenco number that showcases Marina Tamayo as Carmen’s mother on the grounds of the family’s house. “
Millepied casted Tamayo as the mother of Carmen. Her roles are Flamenco Dance choreographer and as a soloist performer as the mother of Carmen, Zilah on his latest project, first feature film ‘ Carmen’. It was released worldwide in 2022 by Sony Picture. Classics. It premiered at the Adelaide Film Festival, the showed at Miami, Quebec, Toronto, Paris and Sydney film festivals, 2023.
IMdB profile Marina Tamayo (II) .
Opened to US theatres in Los Angeles and New York, Ireland, UK, Mexico, Paris, Canada, Australia.
Photo by Ben King for Benjamin Millepieds Carmen, by Sony Classics – Marina Tamayo Flamenco dancer/choreography Copyright 2023 Do not use without permission.
Director Benjamin Millepied Original Score By: Nicholas Britell Written by: Alexander Dinelaris and Loïc Barrère & Benjamin Millepied Starring: Melissa Barrera, Paul Mescal, Rossy de Palma, THE DOC #Carmen#TeaserTrailer#SonyClassics#PaulMescal#MelissaBarrera
Las Peinetas Spanish Dance Theatre – Fusion of Flamenco and Ballet.
Photo by Sebastián Estrada, WoW Moments Production, 2022.
Las Peinetas Spanish Dance Theatre – Fusion of Flamenco and Ballet.
since 2015 Tamayo formed the Flamenco Ballet performance group called ‘Las Peinetas’. The group is made up of professionally trained ballet graduates wo have studied at prestigious National and European Ballet schools, Sydney Dance Pre professional.
Las Peinetas, perform Flamenco Ballet. This is a signatory style of Tamayo, a true unique blend between both genres, and it is the first group of its kind in Australia. Currently, the group are booked weekly at Alegrias Spanish Tapas and perform at various bespoke locations across NSW. The focus of the group is, to present traditional works in a contemporary context whilst maintaining the authenticity of Andalusian folklore, storytelling.
Marina Tamayo’s Las Peinetas . Photo by Sebastian Estrada of Wow Moment Productions. 2022, at Alegrias Spanish Tapas every Friday.
Further Education
Further education studies include Ballet in ADAP, RAD and Cecchetti methods, Bachelor of Education, Curtin University, Classical Pianoforte Music Composition and Theory at AMEB The Conservatorium of Music, Certificate in Business Analysis, Project Management, Diploma in Audio Engineering and has Postgraduate studies in Production Sound Engineering.
Marina Tamayo works in a NSW Primary school teaching position specializing in performing arts – NSW Dance Curriculum for stages K – 6, at an EAL/D school in Chatswood and coaches the senior boys dance group.
