MOVING PEOPLE: Eduardo Vilaro on His Love Of Birding, Josephine Baker & Running Ballet Hispánico

Eduardo Vilaro
Eduardo Vilaro

Eduardo Vilaro

Biography

Artistic Director of Ballet Hispánico since August 2009 and CEO also since 2015, Eduardo Vilaro is the second dance enthusiast to head the Company since it was founded in 1970. Part of the Ballet Hispánico family as early as 1985, Vilaro first joined as a dancer and educator. He also founded Luna Negra Dance Theater in Chicago in 1999, which enjoyed a 14-year run until its closing in 2013. His accolades and achievements include receiving the Ruth Page Award for choreography (2001), being honored at Panama’s II International Festival of Ballet (2003), being inducted into the Bronx Walk of Fame (2016), being featured as HOMBRE Magazine’s Arts & Culture Trailblazer of the Year (2017), and winning the West Side Spirit’s WESTY Award (2019) in addition to the James W. Dodge Foreign Language Advocate Award (2019).


Related story: Felicidades, Ballet Hispánico, On Being Named One of America's Cultural Treasures By Ford Foundation

Cover Headshot: Courtesy Ballet Hispánico

Left Headshot: Wikipedia

Action Photo: Paula Lobo

Sammi Sowerby / Follow @sammi.in.shanghai on Instagram

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Published on October 8, 2020
Paula Lobo

1

My earliest memory of dancing is _____________.

with mom when I was six

2

I knew I was a dance artist when _____________.

I put on a dance belt

3

An event that transformed my life _____________.

was leaving NYC

4

A truly good day in my books includes _____________.

cocktails

5

I am suspicious of anything _____________.

called lyrical dance

6

My favorite type of clothes to move in includes _____________.

a zipper

7

A dish/drink that makes me nostalgic is _____________.

every Cuban dish

8

Another job or industry where I might have excelled is _____________.

as a news anchor

9

A personal challenge I face is _____________.

aging gracefully

10

My personal motto is _________.

"Shut up and dance"

11

Prior to breathing life into Ballet Hispánico, _________.

I was leading another dance company

12

Tina Ramirez has taught me _________.

the difference between good and bad drama

13

I have choreographed _________ works so far.

forty

14

If I could dance a duet with any artist, living or deceased, he/she would be _________.

Josephine Baker

15

Since quarantine started, I have discovered that _________.

kindness works

16

The best feedback I have received about #BUnidos Por La Cultura is ________.

“Eso, papito!”

17

Outside of dance, my three great pleasures are _________.

my family, traveling, and birding

18

The first city/country I want to visit when traveling is permissible again is _________.

Lisbon, Portugal

19

I am really looking forward to _________ in 2021.

binge shopping

20

I am proud to be Latino because _________.

"Latin is Satin"




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