Born in Casablanca, Antonio Vargas was attracted to Flamenco at a very early age.  His inborn musicality could equally have drawn him to become a concert cellist or a percussionist.  However his passion for the art of Flamenco and the full realisation of its potentials has been the driving force behind his lasting and brilliant career.

His musical education started when he was only a toddler, and one could say that a career as a musician would have fit his parents’ expectations.  However, when his family moved to London as he was eleven years old, he had the opportunity not only to continue his musical education, but also to benefit from a myriad of dance teachers and schools and to be exposed to one of the most eclectic arts-scenes in the world. It was like being in the womb of creativity.

Had he been taller, the Flamenco world might have suffered a great tragedy and lost him to Ballet; but as fate would have it, his physique did not conform to the ballet masters’ specifications, and his teacher advised him to do Spanish Dance. That must have awoken in him recollections of his aunts, both flamenco dancers, and the rest is history.  As soon as he could, he escaped to Spain and immersed himself in the Mecca of Flamenco, learning with the best teachers in Spain at the time, not only to dance but also to play the Flamenco guitar. His, was the great generation of flamenco personalities: Antonio Gades, Mario Maya, El Güito, Cristina Hoyos, Manolete - names that are synonymous with the popularity of flamenco world-wide.  His main teacher was Antonio Marín, a one-leg genius who created dancing-monsters through his daughters' feet. Soon he had auditioned, and been selected when he was only eighteen years old as a member of the Pilar Lopez Company, which he left after two years to join the Company of Rafael de Córdova. With them he toured extensively throughout Europe and South America, and absorbed invaluable information regarding staging, theatre lighting and artistic direction.

Antonio has always been a pioneer in the field of Flamenco Dance Theatre.  Back in 1962, when he formed his first company, he had already the desire to take Flamenco out of the tight boundaries of the traditional, predictable performances that most audiences were used to; he always believed that Flamenco could lend itself to interpret great novelists and poets and that it could be put on stage side by side with the most established, mainstream art-forms, such as Opera and choral works, without jeopardising its authenticity.

The list of Antonio's works is extensive. From Opera to Film, from small stage performances to big festivals, from solo performances to productions with the best artists that Spain has to offer at any given moment, Antonio has done it all - including a television show with the Beatles (Granada Television, 1964). He even played the Fiddler in a London production of Fiddler on the Roof (Her Majesty's Theatre, 1967); and he has created his own Flamenco Dance Theatre works and adapted well know plays and novels to the Flamenco repertoire.

Antonio has many qualities. Some he shares with other Flamenco artists in Spain today, such as being a great dancer and a great teacher, but there are some that make him unique. He never forgets his obligations as a teacher and as a promulgator of the Flamenco art, and always finds time to conduct courses and workshops and to stage experimental works, giving his best students the opportunity of experiencing his magic as a "people-mover". Once an artist or a student has been on stage with him or directed by him, their lives are no longer the same

Not only is Antonio a master of syncopation, but he has an intrinsic knowledge of all types of music. He plays the flamenco guitar, the cello, the piano and percussive instruments.

His generosity as a teacher knows no boundaries. Antonio does not hold back when he teaches; he treats all students with the same respect he affords a professional, and the material he teaches in a beginners class can be used by the students if and when they start performing in public.  When he teaches the studio becomes a temple, and the religion is Flamenco.

Although his company is based in Spain, and it is part of his mission to tour his dance theatre productions, he is always open to work with and encourage resident artists, not only Flamenco artists, but also contemporary dancers, jazz musicians, percussionists, etc. To have him present, even if only in a rehearsal is an unforgettable experience, a true inspiration.