Ballet Hispánico is an American dance company based in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. It was founded by the Puerto Rican-Mexican-American dancer and choreographer Tina Ramirez in 1970 and presents dances reflecting the experience of

Hispanic and Latino Americans Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spaniards, Spanish or Latin Americans, Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino (demonym), ...

. The company has performed for more than two million people in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, and

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, and has a repertoire of over 75 works. The company has commissioned nearly 80 works and acquired 11 others, working with 45 choreographers from around the world.

About

Tina Ramirez founded Ballet Hispánico in 1970. Daughter of a Mexican

bullfighter A bullfighter or matador () is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter, and describe all the performers in the activ ...

and grand-niece of a Puerto Rican educator, Ramirez enjoyed a long professional dance career before establishing the organization. Its New York City headquarters includes six dance studios. In August 2009, Eduardo Vilaro became the Ballet Hispánico Artistic Director. He is the second individual to lead the company since 1970. In 2015, he also took on the role of CEO. Vilaro was a former member of the Ballet Hispánico Company, serving as a dancer and educator for nine years starting in 1988. He stepped away in 1996 to found and lead Chicago’s Luna Negra Dance Theater for ten years before returning in 2009.

The Company

Ramirez' vision for the Ballet Hispánico Company promoted Hispanic culture in American dance. During her 39 years as Artistic Director, she invited 50 choreographers from diverse backgrounds to provide a modern-day interpretation of Spanish-speaking cultures, drawing on the versatility of her dancers in ballet, modern dance, jazz, ethnic and other dance techniques. World-renowned artists responded to her vision, including ballet artists as Vicente Nebrada and

Alberto Alonso Alberto Julio Rayneri Alonso (22 May 1917 – 31 December 2007) was a Cuban dancer and choreographer, the brother of Fernando Alonso and brother-in-law of Alicia Alonso (née Martinez). He was influential in the development of the Cuban style ...

;

Talley Beatty Talley Beatty (22 December 1918 – 29 April 1995) was born in Cedar Grove, Louisiana, a section of Shreveport, but grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He is considered one of the greatest of African American choreographers, and also bears the titles da ...

and

Anna Sokolow Anna Sokolow (February 9, 1910 – March 29, 2000) was an American dancer and choreographer. Sokolow's work is known for its social justice focus and theatricality. Throughout her career, Sokolow supported the development of modern dance arou ...

from modern dance; Paco Fernandez and Jose Coronado from ethnic dance; and

Graciela Daniele Graciela Daniele (born December 8, 1939) is an Argentine- American dancer, choreographer, and theatre director. A stage musical based on her life, title '' The Gardens of Anuncia'', premiered in 2021, created by Michael John LaChiusa. Biography ...

and

Ann Reinking Ann Reinking (November 10, 1949December 12, 2020) was an American dancer, actress, choreographer, and singer. She worked predominantly in musical theater, starring in Broadway productions such as ''Coco'' (1969), '' Over Here!'' (1974), ''Goodti ...

from Broadway. "More than most artistic directors, she has consistently given exposure to fresh talent," nurturing artists early in their careers, including William Whitener, now Artistic Director of Kansas City Ballet; MacArthur Award-Winner Susan Marshall; Ramon Oller, head of Spain's ''Metros Danza''; and Pedro Ruiz, then a member of the Company, now an independent choreographer.

School of Dance

These include techniques based on the styles of

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer, teacher and choreographer, whose style, the Graham technique, reshaped the dance world and is still taught in academies worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over s ...

Katherine Dunham Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 – May 21, 2006) was an African American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers of the 20th century and directed her own dance compan ...

, and

José Limón José Arcadio Limón (January 12, 1908 – December 2, 1972) was a dancer and choreographer from Mexico and who developed what is now known as 'Limón technique'. In the 1940s, he founded the José Limón Dance Company (now the Limón Dan ...

. The School offers pre-professional training, a general program, and classes for preschoolers and adults.

Location

In 1983, Ballet Hispánico purchased two carriage houses adjacent to the former Claremont Riding Academy building on West 89th Street listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. The structures were built to designs by architect Frank A. Rooke in 1892. With architects Buck/Cane, Ballet Hispánico converted the two carriage houses into the company's headquarters in 1989. A subsequent expansion in 2006 doubled the capacity of the organization's facilities.

References

{{authority control 1970 establishments in New York City Hispanico, Ballet Dance companies in New York City Latin dances Hispanic and Latino American culture in New York City Performing groups established in 1970