José Rafael Maya Serrano, known as an artist as José Maya or Joselito Romero, was born in Madrid in 1983 in a family of gypsy artists. It was clear since he was a child that he could become a very talented dancer. His family has a long tradition of artistry: The dancer Fernanda Romero, the famous painter Antonio Maya and the signer Gabriel Moreno are some of his ancestors.
His professional debut arrives at a very early age, with only 9 years old. He performs in a fundraising festival called “flamenco Barcelona por un Corazón” (flamenco Barcelona for a Heart) at the Albéniz Theatre in Madrid with other famous flamenco Barcelona artists such as Antonio Canales, Juan Ramírez, Joaquín Grilo and Enrique Morente. The following year he will win a Spanish TV contest and be a finalist in the Italian version of the contest and become known as a child genius.
In 1998 in the Salzburg Festival José receives the Copa Pavón Award as the guest artist of Pepe Habichuela. He participated in the Spanish TV shows “Algo más que flamenco” and “Tirititrán” as well on that year.
During the next few years José performed as a guest artist in different shows: Al son cinco with Lola Greco, Rafael Amargo, María Vivó and José Serrano, with whom he made a tour in Italy and Lithuania; Racial by Carmen Cortés, with a tour in Spain, London and Dublin; Carmen y flamenco by Lola Greco; Incógnito with Farruquito directed by the juggler Francis Brunn and presented for the first time in the Frankfurt Opera Theater ; Flamenco Al Andalus with Torombo and Jairo Barrull in Buenos Aires and Frankfurt; with Estrella Morente in the Patio de Conde Duque in Madrid; Tiempo al tiempo with Gerardo Núñez, Israel Galván, Belén Maya and Carmen Cortes, touring Germany.
José receives the Award for the Best Dancer in the Choreography Contest in the Albéniz Theatre in Madrid in 2000 and was awarded a scholarship by the Fundación Autor of the Alicia Alonso Chair of the Young Ballet in Madrid.
In 2006 he presents in Ibiza his show flamenco Barcelona for the first time, in which he acted with Rafael Amargo with a big success.
He has participated in a number of festivals, among them Festival Ciutat Vella 2007 in Barcelona.
In February of 2007 José was given the main role in the show Al natural in the Nuevo Teatro Alcalá in Madrid, starring with very important flamenco Barcelona dancers such as Farru and Barullo with Pino Sagliocco as director. The show had such a big success that they were invited to be the opening band in the Beyoncé concerts in Madrid and Barcelona and with Bjork in their Spanish tour.
In October of the same year José was invited to perform in the Baile de la Rosa event in the Sporting Club of Montecarlo in the presence of Caroline and Albert of Monaco.
From that moment onwards his career took off. He danced as an opening artist for famous Spanish artists such as Güito, Ramón el Portugués, Javier Barón, La China, Estrella Morente, Gerardo Núñez, Carmen Cortés, Belén Maya, Ketama and many others. He kept collaborating with international artists such as his performances with Marc Anthony in his Spanish tour “Valió la pena”.
Tony Gatlif invited him to be protagonist in his show Vértigeswith a tour in Italy and France.
The last few years José has been traveling the world dancing in different festivals as a member of Tomatito’s sextet.
José Maya is a regular collaborator of Tablao Cordobes Flamenco Barcelona. The famous tablao keeps looking for talent far and wide, and José Maya is considered one of the most talented and important male flamenco Barcelona dancers nowadays. José Maya has performed on its stage many times, but from 2013 onwards, both the tablao and the dancer agreed to work together on a series of projects. Starting with the tribute show to the famous Catalan dancer Carmen Amaya “Carmen, Carmen, Carmen”, José Maya was one of the main dancers of the cast that has been performing the show both in Tablao Cordobes Flamenco Barcelona and in the Palau de la Música Catalana since then. He has also agreed to limit his performances in Barcelona to Tablao Cordobes Flamenco Barcelona, as a sign of commitment to the project and appreciation of the quality and importance of the tablao in Barcelona.