Gustavo Ramírez Sansano embraces his roots with Flabbergast
September 2, 2026
Spanish choreographer Gustavo Ramírez Sansano created Flabbergast 25 years ago for the Luna Negra Dance Theater in Chicago. For the performance with Introdans in the programme ENERGY, which premieres on 25 September 2026, he is revisiting this nostalgic ballet, the work that made his name internationally at the turn of the century. “It’s wonderful to revive this piece. It takes me back to the very essence of dance.”
Gustavo Ramírez Sansano grew up in San Fulgencio, a tiny Spanish village on the Costa Blanca. The wider world felt far away there. Almost the only dancing was to folk music.
“When I went to Barcelona to study dance, and later came to the Netherlands to dance with Nederlands Dans Theater 2, I was overwhelmed by the arts, and by dance in particular. My head was spinning with everything I saw around me. I got the feeling that everything I was experiencing was better than anything I’d known growing up.”
Alongside dancing, Ramírez Sansano developed an early interest in creating his own ballets, and at the turn of the century he devoted himself entirely to choreography. Introdans fans may well know his acclaimed ballet Carmen, which the company toured the country with in 2022 and 2025 — a contemporary take on the famous opera. When Ramírez Sansano moved to America, Luna Negra Dance Theater invited him to create a ballet, commissioning a piece about his origins. “That was bittersweet. I’d been given a wonderful opportunity, but in my head I didn’t want to go back to that time — I wanted to look forward.” His partner at the time played him music by the Mexican artist Juan García Esquivel, and Ramírez Sansano was struck by inspiration. He recognised the track Anna. “My mother used to make up a dance to that cheerful song for me and my cousins.” This is a sign, the choreographer thought. And so Flabbergast became a tribute to his mother, built around Esquivel’s music.
The ballet has kept evolving ever since. A year after the premiere, the director of Luna Negra asked him to add Esquivel’s track Mucha Muchacha (his most popular number in America). In 2006, IT Dansa in Barcelona invited Ramírez Sansano to stage Flabbergast again, and this time he added two further sections, inspired by Spanish films from the 1960s and ’70s. “Spain was still a dictatorship then, and the films painted a very rosy picture — people were happy, singing, dancing.”
Alongside sketches of stereotypes from his village, Ramírez Sansano also introduced a few characters: “There are four men, macho types, trying to woo a lady. In the end, another woman runs off with her.” It’s the first time the choreographer has deliberately woven themes of sexuality and identity into a piece. “In this new version for Introdans, I go a bit further into the relationship between the two women. It’s the only part of the ballet that’s more emotional, more intimate.”
Despite its upbeat spirit, the original Flabbergast always carried a darker undertone, referencing the dictatorial reality of Spain at the time. For the ENERGY programme, Ramírez Sansano wanted to give the ballet more lightness. “You could say the original portrayed people’s everyday lives, whereas now I’m portraying the weekends — when people dress up and go out. It’s really become a celebration of life.”
So for Ramírez Sansano, reviving Flabbergast feels like a celebration. “I love dancing this piece. It takes me back to the very essence of dancing. I didn’t start out with ballet, folk dance or flamenco, like everyone else, I simply started with dancing. It made me feel something. It’s important to remember that.”
ENERGY tour: 25 September to 25 November 2026
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