Juan Magriñá

Joan Magrinyà was born in Vilanova i la Geltrú, a coastal fishing village near Barcelona, in 1903. As a child he was fond of creating dances, wardrobes and staging stories. When Vilanova's old cinematographer was replaced, he and his brother were given the old one and a lot of pictures. He loved watching movies and living other stories. Once the family attended the Cinema Doré at Barcelona, and during the intermission a dancer performed a castanet number. Little Joan was so impressed that back home he started trying castanets and imitating the dancer. It was to be dance for him ever after. In 1918 the family moved to Barcelona. There he studied at the Joan Llongueras dance school. He tried to be admitted at Pauleta Pàmies'academy and at the Liceu operatic theatre, but was rejected for being a man. Finally he wrote to Theodor Wassilief, ballet director of the Russian Opera during the company's annual visits to Barcelona, who agreed to teach him. He was eighteen at the time. In 1926, his army training ended, he acted in theaters illustrating the plays with orchestras such as the Pau Casals ensemble. He also studied in Paris and London. He had offers from Antonia Mercè "La Argentina" and Pavlova to join their companies, but it was in his homeland that he wanted to be. In December 1926 he entered the corps de ballet at the Liceu. When one of Wassilief's Russian dancers became ill he debuted as soloist; it was in Rimsky-Korsakoff's May Night. He would stay in the Liceu for life. In the 1930s he had Maestro Corona as teacher for Spanish dances. From then on he would add them to his repertory. He became friends with critics and promoters. In 1932 he staged in Vilanova a male solo ballet recital, uncommon in those days, and then acted at Barcelona's Urquinaona theater. He created the "Equilibrist Polca", where he danced on pointe and walked on his hands imitating a funambulist, a striking novelty at the time. Ballet in those days had been mainly restricted to operas in the city. Magrinyà would revive it as a principal dance. He became first dancer with Carmen Salazar, Rosita Segovia, María Luisa Nogués and later Trini Borrull whom he helped join the company. During the Spanish Civil War he was mobilized and commissioned by the Generalitat (Catalan Government) to go on an international tournée. After the war ended, he continued dancing at the Liceu and promoted classical Spanish dance, often teaming with Trini Borrull. In 1938, when Pauleta Pàmies died, he became master teacher. He also opened a dance academy at Barcelona's Petritxol Street. He and Trini Borrull made a very popular team. They famously danced "Corrida de Feria", and they gave many recitals of Spanish dances, repeatedly touring the country. In 1942 he created "Hymn to the Sun" which became another of his trademarks. In 1944 he was made Master Professor of Dance (catedrático de Danza) at the Institut del Teatre. In 1951 the Ballets de Barcelona were created and he became its director. He created "Goya's Tapestries" which he presented in Madrid to great acclaim, and choreographed La Revoltosa, a famed zarzuela, for which he got the Amadeo Vives award. Joan Magrinyà blended classical, Spanish and contemporary styles, both in his teaching and dancing legacy. He would choreograph more than 150 operas and some 20 ballets for the Liceu. As a teacher, he would train several generations of dancers. He retired from active dancing in 1957, continuing as the Liceu's choreographer until 1977. Amongst his many awards are the Liceu's gold medal, and the maximum honor given by the Catalan government, namely the Saint George Cross (Creu de Sant Jordi); also the Gold Medal in Fine Arts (Medalla de Oro en Bellas Artes) from the Spanish Ministerio de Cultura. He and his brother bought a masia (Catalan farm house) in Vilanova i la Geltrú, where he passed away on 11 September 1995.