Greco, José

José Greco, christened Constanzo Greco, was born 23 December 1918 in the mountains overlooking the Adriatic Sea. He remained in his birthplace Montori nei Frentani, Italy until June 1928 when his father, already living in the United States, achieved naturalized U.S. citizen status whereupon he made arrangements for the family to join him. By August 1928 Greco and his mother and sister moved to Hopkinson Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. In the early years, during which he learned English, José moved frequently between Manhattan and Brooklyn residences. It was through his sister Norina that he began to dance. He often accompanied Norina to her dance lessons at Madame Veola’s studio on 59th Street between 5th and Madison Avenues. In time Greco was able to pick up on the dances himself, which won him the interest of the instructor Helene Veola (ca. 1897-1963). As he began his own dance lessons in 1933, the Leonardo da Vinci Art School, where Greco was in attendance closed. In the absence of school, he worked for the Atlas Ticket Agency, which enabled him to continue dancing.

By his twentieth birthday, Greco not only debuted in Traviata but also won the praises of the famed dancer Escudero Vicente whom he met in Madame Veola’s studio. He, however, credits his dancing success to Argentinita (given name: Encarnación Lopez, 1900-1945), his renown-dancing partner from 1941-1945. Her death marked a series of different partners from the Argentinita’s sister Pilar Lopez to Nana Lorca (given name: Djenana Modrego Vigarary). Her passing also inspired Greco to have his own company, so in 1948 he terminated his already deteriorating partnership with Pilar Lopez and formed The José Greco Spanish Ballet. That same year he also appeared in and choreographed dances for the film Manolete, the first of many later screen involvements including: Sombrero (1953), Around the World in 80 Days (1956), Holiday is For Lovers (1959), Ship of Fools (1965) and The Proud and the Damned (1972).

Over the course of the years, the dance company continued to tour North America and Europe. Greco married three times: Sarita Rivera, Nila Amparo and Nana Lorca. In addition, he had one common-law wife Lola de Ronda (given name: Aurelia Arroyo Garrido). By the late 1960s two of his five children, José-Luis and Alessandra, were dancing with the company. At about the same time as the birth of his sixth child Paolo (ca. 1973), Greco and Nana, his wife and dance partner, founded the José Greco Foundation for the Hispanic Dance. The National Endowment for the Arts also funded the pair’s tour of the United States, which was organized in order to proliferate the Spanish dance culture. In 1974 they opened a dance studio The Centro de Arte Español in Marbella, Spain. During the 1980s José appeared either on TV (he was a guest of the Ed Sullivan Show in 1962) or on tour featuring his sons and daughters. Up until his death in December 2000, José remained active in the dance community from publishing his autobiography entitled The Gypsy in My Soul in 1977 to teaching at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania where he was an adjunct professor of dance until the late 1990s.

From the guide to the José Greco graphic materials, 1900-1985, (The New York Public Library. Jerome Robbins Dance Division.)