“f for flamenco” - an international flamenco festival
Lia is the co-artistic director of F for Flamenco, an annual international flamenco festival in Toronto, Canada. The 3rd edition of the festival will take place April 12-19, 2026 at venues across the city.
“oscar: homage to the rebel maestro of flamenco”
“Oscar: Homage to the Rebel Maestro of Flamenco” had its sold-out world premiere run November 6 - 9, 2025 at The Cultch Historic Theatre in Vancouver, BC. Lia co-created the production with Oscar Nieto and Michelle Harding. "Oscar" tells the story of the spectacular life and flamenco works of dancer, choreographer and maestro Oscar Nieto, brought to life by the professional flamenco dancers he mentored throughout his storied career and the musicians with whom he has shared the stage. “Oscar” features an award-winning cast of five dancers, two guitarists, two singers and a percussionist performing a selection of Oscar Nieto’s most treasured dance and music works. Spanning from the early 1970s to the present, these choreographies are interspersed with archival material and stories from Oscar’s own life — from his youth working the fields from Texas to Los Angeles, to his years touring internationally with Jose Greco, Lola Montes, and Antonio’s Ballet Siluetas, to his decades in Vancouver, where he continues to build a rich and inclusive community of talented and joyful flamenco artists and aficionados.
“La forastera”
In 2020, Lia Grainger turned her attention to solo work with the creation “La Forastera,” a multidisciplinary full-length dance, music, textual and multi-media work. With the support of a Canada Council for the Arts Research and Creation grant and subsequent production grant, Lia spent the first half of 2020 working with Canadian flamenco maestros and mentors Carmen Romero (Toronto) and Oscar Nieto (Vancouver) to create this work. “La Forastera” is a narrative theatrical work that tells the story of a woman who attempts tears up her own cultural roots in the hopes of adopting the culture of another country and people, and what happens when things don’t go as she plans. Lia collaborated with Canadian poets Linda Besner and Katherine Leyton and traveled Spain with filmmaker David Grimes to film productions, interview artists, and collaborate with the musicians who accompanied the work. She performed accompanied by French flamenco singer Alejandro Mendia and Dora Mavor Moore- award-winning guitarist Nicolas Hernandez.
“La Forastera” premiered in 2022 and was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award in the category of Outstanding Individual Performance - Dance.
“when i return home”
In the summer of 2020, Lia was awarded a Canada Council Digital Originals grant to create the short dance film “When I Return Home,” with Iraqi filmmaker Ramzi Maroof and sound designer Justin Gray. The film explores the experience of practicing a foreign art form in a foreign land, and then bringing that art home to Canada. How does it fit? The film is also available on the CBC “Digital Originals” portal.
FIN DE FIESTA
Lia was the co-founder and artistic director of Fin de Fiesta Flamenco, a vibrant music and dance ensemble comprised of award-winning artists from Canada, France and Cuba. For seven years, Fin de Fiesta brought together flamenco dance, song, guitar, flute, and percussion in an explosive celebration of this passionate Andalusian art form. The group toured internationally each summer (outdoor festival venues and theatres) from 2012 to 2019.