In the interview below flamenco dancer and choreographer Manuel Liñan, winner of Spain's prestigious National Dance Award (Premio Nacional de Danza 2017), talks about how he became interested in flamenco, his process of creating a show, what he likes about teaching and performing, how he is able to perform under difficult circumstances, his thoughts on students who dance flamenco as a hobby vs. those who study professionally, and how long he can stand to go without dancing.

I conducted this interview with Manuel in September 2014 when I was in Santa Barbara for the Flamenco Arts Festival after his rehearsal one afternoon. We had a great time with Ricardo as the cameraman. I apologize for the poor sound quality. It was pretty windy at the time of the interview, which the microphone picked up on.

*In case you're wondering why he jokingly refers to me as his best friend at the end of the interview, well, it's because I nicknamed him my mejor amigo since the very first time I studied with him I felt sure that he couldn't stand me.

Here you can see bits and pieces of Nómada, the show he mentions in the interview.

Here's the breakdown of topics he touches upon:

How he became interested in flamenco & what it means to him 10 seconds
How he creates a show 1 minute 15 seconds
Choreographing for his own company vs others 2 minutes 15 seconds
What he enjoys about teaching 3 minutes
Studying flamenco as a hobby vs professionally 4 minutes
How long he can stand to go without dancing 5 minutes 20 seconds
How he is able to perform well under difficult circumstances 6 minutes 10 seconds