Isaac Eleazar Hernández Fernández (born 30 April 1990) is a Mexican ballet dancer and actor who is a lead principal with the

English National Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish ...

Early life

Isaac Hernández was born in

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

, Mexico, one of 11 children of Hector Hernández, a former dancer. One of his brothers, Esteban Hernandez, is a principal dancer with the

San Francisco Ballet San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Franc ...

. He was taught dance by his parents at age 8 in the family backyard. He then trained at

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

The Rock School for Dance Education The Rock School for Dance Education is a classical ballet school located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, along the city's Avenue of the Arts. The school offers dance training for students age three and older, with pre-professional programs for stu ...

Dancing career

Hernandez first danced at the ABT II. In 2008, he joined

's corps de ballet and was promoted to soloist in 2010. He joined the

Dutch National Ballet The Dutch National Ballet (Dutch: Het Nationale Ballet) is the official and largest ballet company in the Netherlands. History The Dutch National Ballet was formed in 1961 when the Amsterdam Ballet and the Nederlands Ballet merged. The company h ...

as a soloist in 2012, and was promoted to principal dancer the following year after dancing the role of Prince Désiré in '' The Sleeping Beauty''. After making a guest appearance in ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...

'' with the

, he joined the company as a lead principal in 2015. His repertoire there also includes classical works such as ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' and ''

La Sylphide ''La Sylphide'' ( en, The Sylph; da, Sylfiden) is a romantic ballet in two acts. There were two versions of the ballet; the original choreographed by Filippo Taglioni in 1832, and a second version choreographed by August Bournonville in 1836. Bo ...

'', as well as contemporary works including

Aszure Barton Aszure Barton is a Canadian-born choreographer. Career Aszure Barton was born and raised in Alberta, Canada. She received her formal training at the National Ballet School in Toronto, where, as a student, she helped originate the ongoing Steph ...

’s ''Fantastic Beings'' and Akram Khan's ''Giselle''. As a guest artist he has appeared at the

Paris Opera Ballet The Paris Opera Ballet () is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded ...

as Solor in ''

La Bayadère ''La Bayadère'' ("the temple dancer") ( ru. «Баядерка», ''Bayaderka'') is a ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus. The ballet was staged especiall ...

'' and in Nureyev’s ''

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Wester ...

'', and at the

Rome Opera The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma (Rome Opera House) is an opera house in Rome, Italy. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212 seat ''Costanzi Theatre'', it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements. The pre ...

in Baryshnikov and Laurent Hilare's version of ''Don Quixote''. In 2015, he was called "the hottest ballet boy to hit London since Carlos Acosta". In 2018, Hernandez won the

Prix Benois de la Danse The Benois de la Danse is a ballet competition held annually in Moscow. Founded by the International Dance Association in 1991, it takes place each year on or around April 29 and it's judged by a jury. The members of this jury change every year and ...

for his performance in ''Don Quixote'' with the Rome Opera Ballet and ''

'' with the ENB. He is the first Mexican dancer to win the award. He is an arts and tourism ambassador of Mexico and the youngest artist to receive an outstanding artist award from the Mexican president. Hernandez and his brother Esteban set up a project in their hometown of Guadalajara to bring other dancers to perform and teach at workshops.

Acting career

Hernandez had his acting debut in Carlos Saura's movie ''

The King of All the World ''The King of All the World'' ( es, El rey de todo el mundo, links=no) is a 2021 musical drama film directed and written by Carlos Saura. A Mexico-Spain co-production, the cast is led by Ana de la Reguera, Manuel García Rulfo, Damián Alcázar, ...

''. He then acted in Manolo Caro's limited series for Netflix ''

Someone Has To Die ''Someone Has to Die'' ( es, Alguien tiene que morir) is a Spanish-Mexican thriller streaming television limited series created by Manolo Caro, creator of the Netflix series '' The House of Flowers.'' The series takes place in 1950s Spain and c ...

'' in the role of Lázaro, a ballet dancer. The series premiered on 16 October 2020.

Select repertoire

Hernández's repertoire includes:

Awards

Awards: *Alexandra Radius Award for Most Outstanding Dancer *Gold Medal, USA International Ballet Competition *Bronze Medal and special award, Kirov Ballet at Moscow’s International Ballet Competition *First place in the Cuba International Competition *2018 Benois de la Danse at the Bolshoi Theatre

Personal life

Hernández is married to San Francisco Ballet's artistic director

Tamara Rojo Tamara Rojo CBE (born 17 May 1974) is a Spanish ballet dancer. She is the English National Ballet's artistic director (2012–2022) and a lead principal dancer with the company. She was previously a principal dancer with The Royal Ballet. She ...

. They have one son together.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez, Isaac English National Ballet principal dancers Living people Mexican male ballet dancers People from Guadalajara, Jalisco Dutch National Ballet principal dancers San Francisco Ballet soloists Mexican expatriates in the United States Mexican expatriates in the Netherlands Mexican expatriates in the United Kingdom 1990 births Prix Benois de la Danse winners