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Carmen Tortola Valencia by  Espasio Amatller, circa 1914

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
         
         
         
 

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)      
  Wintergarten (Germany)      
 

Films

Tórtola Dance Routines
1917 - Pacto de lágrimas Danza africana
1917 - Pasionaria Danza árabe
  Danza de la serpiente, the
  Danza del incienso
  La bayadera
 

Dances

Ballet La Bayadere n/a n/a
Belly Dance Oriental Dance    
Greek Dance Spanish Dance    
 
Other

Political

n/a n/a n/a
     
 

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*
      Tortola Valencia    
 

Other...

Link:Excellent Tortola Valencia Information Page.

October 9, 2005
http://www.Streetswing.com/histmain/d5index.htm

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