‘We make citizens of the world’: Ballet Hispánico celebrates Hispanic heritage
NEW YORK (PIX11) – Ballet Hispán i co , the largest Latino cultural organization in the United States, started in New York City.
As Ballet Hispánico rehearsed for Club Havana, a Cuban dance extravaganza, the artistic director pointed out that the dancers represent many countries including Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, El Salvador, Italy, Cuba and the U.S.
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"I want the world to know Ballet Hispánico is their entry into getting to know the diversity and the depth of all the countries that make up the Latinx, the Latino and Latina world," Eduardo Vilaro, the artistic director and CEO of Ballet Hispánico, told PIX11 News.
Vilaro is only the second artistic director of Ballet Hispánico, which was founded in 1970 by trailblazer Tina Ramirez.
Vilaro was born in Cuba but raised in the Bronx and was a graduate of Saint Margaret Mary, Fordham Prep and Adelphi. He discovered his love of dance as a teenager.
"I started taking Capoeira classes with Dance Brazil, which is a combination of martial arts and dance and was very lethal, which was good for me in the Bronx," Vilaro told PIX11 News. "And then I would take a ballet class. I have my own little Billy Elliot story," Vilaro added.
Vilaro began his journey in Ballet Hispánico as a dancer in 1985. Now, as CEO and artistic director, he oversees the school on West 89th Street that teaches everyone from age 2 to 82.
"We get to share all of our different cultures and backgrounds," Omar Rivera, a Mexican-American member of the company, told PIX11 News. "Every dancer in the studio is from somewhere," he added.
Amanda del Valle, a Cuban-American dancer, also talked about what it means to her to dance with Ballet Hispánico. "It means a representation of who I am and where my family comes from," she said.
"I love to say for Ballet Hispánico, we don't only make dancers. What we do is help make citizens of the world. Ultimately what you learn in an art form is to go beyond yourself and learn how to be very open in your perspective," Vilaro said.
Ballet Hispánico is about to embark on its fall tour across the country, but the dancers will be back in New York City at City Center performing their take of "Carmen in the Spring."
