500: Fernando Montaño: Colombia's Billy Elliot

Colombia Calling - The English Voice in Colombia

It's Episode 500 of the Colombia Calling podcast! Celebrate with us as we chat to Colombia's most famous dancer, Fernando Montaño. Fernando Montaño was born in Buenaventura on the Pacific coast of Colombia and at the age of 14 won a scholarship to the National Ballet School of Cuba where he won several prizes at the International Ballet Contest in Havana, Cuba, and then joined the Cuban National Ballet. He also trained at La Scala and Teatro Nuovo di Torino, Italy where he was spotted by the Director of the English Ballet School and invited to the UK to audition, following which he joined the Royal Ballet in 2006 where he was mentored by Carlos Acosta. We discuss his life as an artist - dancing, painting, designing - and his work supporting the charity, Children Change Colombia, the question of identity and being from Colombia's pacific coast. Join us to hear and experience Fernando's unique energy, his reflections on life and opportunities and how he wishes to be remembered. The Colombia News Brief is reported by journalist Emily Hart. Support the Colombia Calling podcast: https://www.patreon.com/colombiacalling