More than Flamenco — A Life Connecting Seville and the Netherlands
About Maria Robles
I was born in Seville, where I trained at the Conservatorio de Sevilla before moving to the Netherlands over 30 years ago. Since then, I've lived between two worlds — and everything I do comes from that in-between space.
I later studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, and spent ten years designing and building stage sets for the Dutch National Opera and the Van Gogh Museum. I've also performed as a street artist in festivals around the world — the same rawness and connection with an audience that started long before any stage.
Flamenco is the instrument I use, not the box I fit into. I don't teach flamenco — I create experiences where people can truly live it: in my classes, in the workshops I bring to companies, and in the journeys I lead back to Seville, where I show people the city the way I actually know it — not as a tourist, but as someone who grew up there.
What ties all of this together is one thing: connection. Between cultures, between people, between who you are and who you're afraid to show. That's the thread running through everything I make.
"I don't teach flamenco. I create experiences where people can truly live it."
"For over 30 years, I've been connecting Seville and the Netherlands through the living art of flamenco."