Lourdes Lopez

Background

Lopez was born in Havana, Cuba in 1958 and raised in Miami by her parents along with two sisters.

Education

Studied with, Alexander Nigodoff and Martha Mahr, Miami

Studied with, Perry Brunson

attended, School of America Ballet, New York City.

Career

Miami City Ballet is the largest South Florida arts organization reaching an annual audience of over 125,000 in four Florida Counties. lieutenant includes a ballet school with over 1500 students and adults. At the age of eleven she received a full scholarship to the School of American Ballet, the official school of the New York City Ballet.

At fourteen, she moved to New York permanently to devote herself to full-time studies at the School of American Ballet, and shortly after her sixteenth birthday, she joined the corps de ballet of New York City Ballet in 1974.

She was promoted to Soloist in 1981 and Principal Dancer in 1984 and retired at age 39 in 1997. As a Soloist and Principal Dancer with New York City Ballet, she danced for two legends of the art form, George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, performing countless featured roles including Violin Concerto, Firebird, Serenade, Liebeslieder Walzer, Divertimento Number.

15, and Agon. Lopez’s great interest in children also found her writing and contributing to many of the company’s Family Matinee series.

Upon retirement in 1997, Lopez joined W National Broadcasting Company-television in New York as a Cultural Arts reporter, writing and producing feature segments on the arts, artists and arts education. She was also a full-time senior faculty member and Director of Student Placement, Student Evaluation and Curriculum Planning at New York’s Ballet Academy East.

She served on the dance faculty of Barnard College and guest taught at numerous dance institutions and festivals in the United States. In 2007, Lopez co-founded Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company with Christopher Wheeldon serving as its Executive Director.

Morphoses is a dance company aiming to revitalize dance through innovative collaborations with important artists from the worlds of music, visual arts, design, film and fashion.

And by inviting younger and broader audiences to engage in and actively experience dance. In September 2012, Lopez was named to be the Artistic Director of the Miami City Ballet bringing with her a nearly 40-year career in dance, television, teaching and arts management

In 2014, Lopez was elected to serve on the Ford Foundation’s Board of Trustees, marking the first time an artist was elected to serve on its board.

Achievements

• Lourdes Lopez has been listed as a noteworthy Ballerina by Marquis Who's Who.

Membership

She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Ford Foundation.