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|
Stage Name |
Birth Name |
| Tórtola
Valencia |
Carmen
Tórtola Valencia |
| "La
Bella Valencia" |
|
Reportedly born in Seville, Spain to Florenc Tórtola Ferrer
(Catalan) and Georgina Valencia Valenzuela (Andalusian) who later
passed away when she was about 9 years old. Around the age of
three, the whole family moved to London, England where she would
get a great education and learn to dance while living with a wealthy
British family. She would create her own unique style of dance
she called "Natural Dance"
which paralleled Modern Dance
in style and date in time of creation and is said she was influenced,
like many of her time by Isadora
Duncan which is why she studied African, Arab, Greek and Indian
plus other cultures and their dance forms.
Tórtola's first public Stage appearance was in 1908 at
the Gaiety Theatrein London in the
show "Havana." Her Stage
appearances would draw critics opinions which varied greatly on
her dancing many being average by those not well versed in dance
and others exclaiming genius. From 1921 to 1930 Tórtola
performed all over Latin America and in New York in 1917. She
excelled in the dances of her native Spanish culture as well and
was considered an asset to the Spanish
dance
|
| styles
but her true love in dance was the Natural / Modern dance form
she helped to create. She abrutply danced for the last time on
November 23, 1930 in Guayaquil, Ecuador and suddenly retired to
Barcelona with her long time companion Angeles
Magret Vilá, although
reportedly heterosexual, she never married.
|
Birth Place |
Birth Date |
Spouse |
Offspring |
| Seville,
Spain (Malaga ?) |
6/18/1882-3/15/1955 |
None: (Angeles Magret Vilá) |
None |
|
Posters,
Lobby Cards etc. |
Sheet Music Covers |
Music Titles |
| n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
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Night Clubs/ Stage |
Theaters |
Dance Partners |
| Follies
Bergere (Paris) |
Century
Theatre (New York 1917) |
Alice
Réjane (1909) |
| Gaiety
Theatre (London 1908) |
Gaiety
Theatre (London 1908) |
Raquel
Meller (1915) |
| Cirkus
Varieté of Copenhagen |
Romea
Theatre (Madrid 1911) |
|
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Wintergarten
(Germany) |
|
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|
Films |
Tórtola
Dance Routines |
| 1917
- Pacto de lágrimas |
Danza
africana |
| 1917
- Pasionaria |
Danza
árabe |
| |
Danza
de la serpiente, the |
| |
Danza
del incienso |
| |
La
bayadera |
|
Other |
Political |
| n/a |
n/a |
n/a |
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Books, Magazine Articles on this dancer ... |
| Title |
Author |
Date
Published |
Publisher |
| Archives
of the Institut del Teatre of Barcelona |
n/a |
1910s |
- |
| Feminist
Encyclopedia of Spanish Literature |
Caulfield,
Carlota |
1999 |
Greenwood
Press |
| Tórtola
Valencia and Her Times |
Sobrac,
Odelot |
1982 |
|
| Musicians
/ Orchestra's |
Writers
/ Poets |
Artists |
Magazine
/ Newspapers |
| n/a |
n/a |
Esposio
Amatller |
1916:
Papitu Weekly |
| |
|
|
Troy
Kinney* |
12/1926
- The Mentor Magazine* |
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Tortola
Valencia |
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