Dance with a scarf by Mercedes Ruiz

Mercedes Ruiz was born in Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz) in 1980. At the age of seven she joined the company Manuel Morao and Gitanos de Jerez. This was followed by collaborations with artists such as Antonio el Pipa, Eva Yerbabuena, Miguel Poveda, etc. A year after winning the first prize at the 2002 Seville Biennial, she founded her own company, with which she achieved great success, winning the Antonio Gades Prize at the National Competition in Córdoba, two Critics' Prizes at the Jerez Festival and the International Movements Prize in Wolzburg, among others.

The scarf is an important element of the Seville School of Dance, the finished and complete product of a codification process that began around 1830 and has continued with constant enrichment. Although many of its characteristics can also be seen in men's dance, the Seville School is a fundamental pillar of women's dance, linked to the Sevillian woman and, by extension, to Andalusian dance. The Seville School of Dance is registered in the General Catalogue of Andalusian Historical Heritage as an Asset of Cultural Interest.