Manuela Carrasco

Manuela Carrasco Salazar is a Spanish flamenco dancer and stage creator born in Triana, Seville, into a family of flamenco artists. Her father was dancer José Carrasco "El Sordo," and her maternal family connects to the Camborios lineage. Largely self-taught, she absorbed compás and performance practice through family and professional surroundings rather than formal training, a distinction that shaped her artistic identity throughout her career.

Carrasco debuted professionally as a child, working early in the tablao circuit at venues including El Jaleo in Torremolinos and La Cochera in Seville. As a young teenager she toured Europe with Curro Vélez's company. Her presence in major Seville tablaos—Los Gallos and Los Canasteros—placed her within leading networks of the era, where she shared bills with artists including Camarón de la Isla, El Lebrijano, Pansequito and Farruco.

In 1974, institutional recognition came through the Reunión de Cante Jondo de La Puebla de Cazalla, the Premio Nacional Pastora Imperio and the Cátedra de Flamencología. Two years later she received an international dance award in San Remo. During the 1980s, Carrasco appeared at flamenco festivals across Spain and abroad and participated in the touring production *Flamenco Puro*. Her subsequent stage works—*Corazón flamenco*, *La raíz del grito*, *Tronío*, *Un sorbito de lo sublime*, *Romalí* and *Raíces de Ébano*—placed her distinctive solo authority within large theatrical frames, collaborating with singers, guitarists, directors and designers to explore flamenco's capacity as a meeting place with other cultures.

Spain awarded Carrasco the 2007 National Dance Prize for performance, recognizing her essential contribution to flamenco. Andalusia honored her with its regional medal in 2008, and the national government awarded her the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts in 2018. Seville named her a Favorite Daughter of the city in 2022. A farewell tour titled *Siempre Manuela* followed, and a 2025 public dialogue in Seville positioned her legacy as one of intergenerational transmission.