A world-class musician, Mr. Bravo was born in Añatuya, Santiago de Estero and moved to Buenos Aires when he was 8. He began guitar studies at age 4 and later turned to the cello.

 

Mr. Bravo attended both the Municipal Conservatory of Music Manuel de Falla and the University of Buenos Aires. Shortly after his graduation, he became a member of the Argentine National Symphony, a position he held until he moved to United States to study with the celebrated teacher Ronald Leonard.

His engagements have also included the, Colón Theatre Opera House, Los Angeles Philharmonic Institute Orchestra, etc.  He won numerous prizes while studying in Argentina. An avid performer of Argentinean music, Mr. Bravo made the world premier of the “Double Concerto for Cello, Bandoneón and Orchestra” by Lisandro Adrover - a widely praised piece which was dedicated to him and which he performed with Mr. Adrover at the Cervantes National Theatre with the Argentine National Symphony.  Christine Walevska has said about him: "I look forward to the day when I can add to the "Bravos" at Luis Bravo's concert performances, where I'm sure he will be playing to the honor and pride of his great country". 

 

In March 2001, he toured Japan with violinist Taro Hakase with whom he recorded the tango album “Nostalgia” for Toshiba EMI with the Forever Tango Orchestra. 

In addition to his soloist career, Mr. Bravo has firmly established himself as an artistic producer of a recognized reputation.  He was awarded by Maestro Gian Carlo Menotti with the Spoleto Festival's coveted Simpatia Prize for Forever Tango, which closed the Italian Festival in 1996.

In 1998, he received a special distinction with Ruben Blades and Marc Anthony from ACE as the three most successful Latin Artists on Broadway.

He made a special for CBC, Canadian Broadcasting Company, with Karen Kain where she performed with Jorge Torres "A Evaristo Carriego" from Forever Tango. The Boston Pops Orchestra dedicated a special program with his work for the series "Evenings at Pops" for PBS with Leslie Caron as a host. 

 

He is deeply involved in promoting talent through his company that specializes in Argentine tango and folkloric music.

 

Popular Argentine music has surprising variety. Its extremes range from the “Baguala” consisting of three sounds sung without harmonic accompaniment, to the sublime complexities of internationally renowned compositions by Astor Piazzolla and Lisandro Adrover. 

The same is true in the field of dance.  Within the variety, there is a sharp contrast between rural and urban characteristics, i.e. folklore and tango.

 

In 2002 he created Malambo. In this production, Mr. Bravo and his company of 30 performers direct from Argentina, offer an electric panorama of Argentine music, song and dance, incorporating the juxtaposition of the rural gaucho dance tradition known as malambo, with the urban sophistication of tango, and the Spanish influence of fiery flamenco.

The malambo was born in the early 17th century in the Pampas grasslands of Argentina, and originated as a tournament of gaucho (or cowboy) skills, danced solely by men.  Rhythmic, unruly and characterized by virtuoso foot work, malambo dancing incorporates a unique style of heel tapping, and cepillada or grazing the floor with the sole of the foot.  It forms part of folkloric dance, born of daily activities in small rural communities, influenced by nature and the landscape.

In sharp contrast, the tango took root in a culture created by European immigrants converging on Buenos Aires during the late nineteenth century. Urban and nocturnal, it was popularized in the brothels as a dance of loneliness, passion and lust.  

 

Both dances are native to Argentina, but have come to represent the clash between the pre-existing and the colonizing immigrant cultures. Folklore remains the most American component, and brings to the fore the first encounter between the colonized and the colonizer. The first confrontation, the submission and subsequent deep resentments were exacerbated by the growth of Buenos Aires and the enormous migratory European flow. For these reasons and others, folklore and tango stand in opposition.

 

Luis Bravo, creator and director of Forever Tango and Malambo, was born in Añatuya, Santiago de Estero in rural Argentina.  His musical talent as a boy encouraged his parents to move to Buenos Aires, where he received a formal education.  Despite this, his connection to the rural, folkloric point of view remained strong.  He has chosen to put the classic conflict opposing the culture of the land with that of the city on the stage, and chose the music of Dimitri Shostakovich (representing the product of his erudite and academic education) as neutral ground for the final clash between the culture of the native and that of the European immigrant. From his masterful hand, came these two beautiful productions so Argentine in origin, yet universal in appeal.

 

Since 2006 he resides in Lexington, KY