ABOUT LIA:

Evocative, precise, passionate. These are just a few of the words that have been used to describe the flamenco performances and choreographies of Flamencolia Dance Company, led by Canadian dancer and choreographer Lia Grainger. Her unusually long and lean physique makes Lia something of an anomaly in the flamenco world, a fact she has embraced to create a choreographic vocabulary and quality of movement — sharp and elegant — that is all her own.  

Born in Vancouver, Lia began her dance training in 2002, studying with renowned maestros Oscar Nieto and Kasandra “La China.” In 2004 she started performing regularly at the city’s flamenco peña, Kino Cafe. Lia performed with Vancouver’s Mozaico Flamenco Dance Theatre in 2007 before relocating to Toronto, where she continued her studies with Canadian flamenco legends Carmen Romero and Esmeralda Enrique. Lia continues her studies with many of Spain’s great artists including Manuela Rios, Farruquito, Manuel Betanzos, Ursula Lopez, and Alicia Marquez. In 2012 she toured nationally with Flamenguitos del Norte Dance Company and was a featured performer at the Vancouver Jondo Flamenco Festival and the inaugural Montreal Flamenco Festival. That same year Lia began dividing her time between Canada and Spain.

In 2013, Lia was one of just three dancers nationally to be selected for participation in the prestigious "Paso a Paso" mentoring program run by Myriam Allard and Hedi Graja of the contemporary flamenco company La Otra Orilla. The following year, Lia was honoured to share the stage as a performer and choreographer with artists from a wide range of dance disciplines in “60x60”, a NextSteps production directed by Viv Moore at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre Theatre.

From 2015 to 2019, Lia lived full-time in Spain, first in Seville and later in Madrid, returning to Canada to perform. In 2016 Lia was a headlining performer at All Over the Map, a festival celebrating international dance produced by Vancouver’s NextSteps. Lia was one of six North American flamenco dancers selected to compete in the 2017 CERTAMEN USA, a competition that takes place annually at Lincoln Center in New York City. 

From 2013 to 2019, Lia has devoted much of her creative energy to Fin de Fiesta Flamenco, an international flamenco dance and music ensemble she co-founded with Canadian guitarist Dennis Duffin. Lia spent much of each year choreographing new work in close consultation with the ensemble’s musicians in Seville and Madrid. Fin de Fiesta toured festivals and theatres across Canada each summer and in 2019 completed a 40-show tour of Canada and France. Lia was a founding member of the global music and dance ensemble Qairo with artists from Canada and France, and toured regularly with the group from 2020-2024.

Lia returned to Canada permanently in 2019 and now makes her home in Toronto. In 2020, she turned her attention to solo work with the creation “La Forastera,” a multidisciplinary full-length dance, music, textual and multi-media work which tells the story of an artist’s struggle to find her place within a foreign artform. “La Forastera” premiered at Factory Theatre in Toronto in 2022. Lia was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore award in the category of “Outstanding Performance by an Individual.”

Teaching the flamenco arts is also one of Lia’s great passions, and she teaches regular classes at her Flamencolía Dance Academy in downtown Toronto.

Lia receives support for her choreographic and performance work from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council.