BIOGRAPHY
Ángela Vargas Vega, known by her artistic name of Angelita Vargas was born in Seville in 1946. Angelita began her career at the age of three. At eight she was already performing at festivals throughout Spain and was known as "La Gitanilla". She danced at the Madrid tablao Las Brujas and took part in the acclaimed show "Flamenco Puro" which caused a sensation, first in Paris during the Festival de'Automne, and afterwards in New York where she spent a season on Broadway. She was presented, along with her family, at the Lope de Vega theatre in the sixth Bienal de Arte Flamenco de Sevilla. At the Lope de Vega she was presented in the show "Azabache y Coral" in 1997 with Aurora Vargas, and in 1998, in "Huellas, Antología de un Tiempo" at the Teatro de la Maestranza.
She presented her own group at the '98 Expo in Lisbon, and toured with the project "El Flamenco y el Son Cubano". That same year she toured Japan with her group after causing a sensation at the Queen Elisabeth Hall in London, and at the National Concert Hall in Dublin within the cycle "Women in Tradition". At the tenth Bienal she starred with her group in the show "Extremo Puro" which tried to show the particular style of dance of her region. In April 1999 Angelita returned to the Teatro Lope de Vega with her group in the series Noches Flamencas, and shortly afterwards performed in Utrecht, Holland in the show "Una Noche de Flamenco Puro". She took part in the last Festival Musiktriennale Koln, a prestigious German festival.
In 2006 Angelita takes part in the Farruco familiy’s flamenco show ‘Gitanas’, which is represented in various festivals such as the XVIII Festival de Arte de Mont de Marsan, La Bienal de Sevilla and the Festival de Jerez. More recently she has participated in the flamenco show ‘Personalidad’, which premiered in ‘La Bienal de Sevilla’ 2008 and the XXII Festival Arte Flamenco de Mont de Marsan as the invited guest artist of Jairo Barrull’s flamenco show ‘Dos Ramas’.
Angelita has travelled across the world, dancing in several countries including Great Britain, North America, Japan, Holland and Germany. She has received various prizes including ‘el Premio Pastora Imperio’ (Córdoba, 1980) and ‘el Premio Nacional al baile de la Cátedra de Flamencología’ (Jerez, 1986). Apart from her professional commitments, she works full time as a dance teacher, which is perfect for Angelita, as her special gift is her way of communicating through her dance. She herself refers to this when she says in her characteristic simplicity: "I talk through my dance…."
Photo: Luis Castilla