La Argentinita

Lore & Background

Born in Buenos Aires to Spanish immigrants, she moved to Spain in 1901 after two siblings died of scarlet fever. She began learning flamenco at age four from Julia Castelao and gave her first public performance at age eight at the Teatro-Circo de San Sebastián. She chose the stage name 'La Argentinita' in deference to Antonia Mercé (La Argentina). She performed in Madrid venues including Teatro La Latina, Teatro de la Comedia, Teatro de La Princesa, Teatro Apolo and Teatro Príncipe Alfonso.

In the early 1920s she returned to Spain and performed in the 1920 premiere of Federico García Lorca's musical play El maleficio de la mariposa as 'the Butterfly'. She retired in 1926 but returned, joining the Generation of ‘27 and combining flamenco, tango, bulerías and boleros. She had a clandestine relationship with married bullfighter Ignacio Sánchez Mejías, retiring a second time for him but returning with his help.

In 1931 she and García Lorca recorded five gramophone slate records titled Colección de Canciones Populares Españolas. With the Second Spanish Republic she formed the ballet company Bailes Españoles de la Argentinita with her sister Pilar López Júlvez and García Lorca. She staged El amor brujo in 1933 and Las Calles de Cádiz in 1933 and 1940. After Sánchez Mejías was gored to death in 1934, she moved to Buenos Aires, then toured America.

She fled Spain before the Spanish Civil War, traveled through Morocco, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium and the US, and remained in exile in New York. In 1943 she presented El Café de Chinitas at the Metropolitan Opera House with her choreography, texts by García Lorca, scenery by Salvador Dalí and orchestra directed by José Iturbi. She performed at the Watergate complex with her sister.

Her last performance was on May 28, 1945, at the Metropolitan of El Capricho Español. She died on September 24 from an abdominal tumor, refusing surgery to continue dancing. Her body was repatriated to Spain and buried in Madrid. A plaque at the Metropolitan Opera House honors her.

Roots in Two Worlds

Encarnación López Júlvez was born on March 3, 1898, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the daughter of Spanish immigrants where her father had a fabric business. Her childhood in Argentina was marked by tragedy when two of her siblings died in a scarlet fever epidemic. In 1901, she was brought to the north coast of Spain, a move that would reshape her destiny.

At just four years old, she began learning flamenco from Julia Castelao. By eight, she was already performing publicly at the Teatro-Circo de San Sebastián in the Basque Country. She adopted the stage name La Argentinita in deference to the famous flamenco dancer Antonia Mercé (La Argentina). After traveling throughout Spain as a child prodigy, she settled in Madrid, where she performed at Teatro La Latina, Teatro de la Comedia, Teatro de La Princesa, Teatro Apolo and Teatro Príncipe Alfonso.

Her success led her to tour Barcelona, Portugal and Paris, and then Latin America. In the early 1920s, she returned to Spain, where she worked in Madrid. Among her early performances was the 1920 premiere of Federico García Lorca's musical play El maleficio de la mariposa as 'the Butterfly.'

The Generation of '27 and Artistic Synthesis

After announcing her retirement in 1926, La Argentinita made a swift return, aligning herself with the creative ferment of the Generation of '27. She combined flamenco, tango, bulerías and boleros into a hybrid vocabulary. She danced to compositions by Manuel de Falla, Joaquín Turina, Isaac Albéniz, Enrique Granados and Maurice Ravel.

Her orbit included poets such as Rafael Alberti, Federico García Lorca, Edgar Neville and Ignacio Sánchez Mejías. Sánchez Mejías, an intellectual and bullfighter, was a married man and her lover. In 1931, she and García Lorca recorded five gramophone slate records, accompanied by García Lorca's piano, titled Colección de Canciones Populares Españolas.

With the beginning of the Second Spanish Republic, she formed her own ballet company called Bailes Españoles de la Argentinita together with her sister Pilar López Júlvez and García Lorca. She staged several flamenco theatrical shows, including an adaptation of Falla's El amor brujo in 1933, and Las Calles de Cádiz in 1933 and 1940. Her company included flamenco figures Juana la Macarrona, La Malena, Fernanda Antúnez, Rafael Ortega and Antonio de Triana, who was her first dancing partner until the 1940s.

Exile and the American Stage

The goring death of her lover Ignacio Sánchez Mejías in the Manzanares bullring in 1934 shattered La Argentinita's life in Spain. She sought refuge in her work and moved to Buenos Aires to dance at the Teatro Colón; from there she embarked on a long American tour. In 1936 she achieved success in New York. Afterwards, she returned to Spain but was forced to flee the country shortly before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.

She traveled through Morocco, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium and the US, where she remained in exile in New York. From then until her death in 1945, she developed her career and became one of the biggest stars of international dance, and even participated in movies. In 1943, she presented the flamenco troupe El Café de Chinitas at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, with her own choreography, texts by García Lorca, scenery by Salvador Dalí and the orchestra directed by José Iturbi. She also performed at the Washington DC Watergate complex with her sister.

Final Curtain and Enduring Legacy

On May 28, 1945, La Argentinita gave her last performance at the Metropolitan Opera of the orchestral work El Capricho Español, composed in 1887 by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and based on Spanish melodies. At the end of the event, she had to be admitted to a hospital, where she died on September 24 from a tumor in her abdomen. She did not want to have it operated on because she did not wish to abandon dancing. Her body was repatriated to Spain in December and buried in the Spanish capital.

That same year, the company of Bailes Españoles de la Argentinita was dissolved. Among the honors she received after her death was a plaque consecrated at the Metropolitan Opera House, positioned among the medals of Alfonso X El Sabio and La Orden de Isabel la Católica to honor her merits in the field of culture. Her recorded legacy includes two original compositions and participation in twenty-seven additional recordings, spanning tango, popular song, and orchestral dance.

Reader's Guide

La Argentinita is regarded as a leading figure in flamenco, whose work helped shape Ballet Español. Her performances blended flamenco with tango, bulerías, and boleros, and she danced to compositions by major Spanish and French composers. She adapted traditional popular songs for the stage, most notably in the Colección de Canciones Populares Españolas, a set of ten recordings made with poet Federico García Lorca on piano.

Her ballet company, Bailes Españoles de la Argentinita, staged theatrical flamenco shows including an adaptation of Manuel de Falla’s El amor brujo and Las Calles de Cádiz. The company featured renowned flamenco artists such as Juana la Macarrona and Antonio de Triana. In 1943, she presented El Café de Chinitas at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, with her own choreography, texts by García Lorca, and scenery by Salvador Dalí.

She also performed at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. Her career was marked by a close association with the Generation of ‘27, a group of Spanish poets and intellectuals. She composed two works and participated in 27 recordings. Her legacy is honored by a plaque at the Metropolitan Opera House, placed among medals of Alfonso X El Sabio and the Order of Isabel la Católica.