Lourdes Lopez (born 1958) is a

Cuban-American Cuban Americans ( es, cubanoestadounidenses or ''cubanoamericanos'') are Americans who trace their cultural heritage to Cuba regardless of phenotype or ethnic origin. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Cubans, Cuban desc ...

ballet company artistic director of

Miami City Ballet Miami City Ballet is an American ballet company based in Miami Beach, Florida, led by artistic director Lourdes Lopez. MCB was founded in 1985 by Toby Lerner Ansin, a Miami philanthropist. Ansin and the founding board hired Edward Villella, f ...

and former principal dancer of

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...

. She is also a member of the board of trustees of the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

. Miami City Ballet is the largest South Florida arts organization, reaching an annual audience of over 125,000 in four Florida Counties. It includes a ballet school with over 1500 students and adults. Lopez was born in

Havana, Cuba Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, in 1958 and raised in Miami by her parents along with two sisters. At the age of eleven she received a full scholarship to the

School of American Ballet The School of American Ballet (SAB) is the most renowned ballet school in the United States. School of American Ballet is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New ...

, the official school of the

. At fourteen, she moved to New York permanently to devote herself to full-time studies at the

, and shortly after her sixteenth birthday, she joined the corps de ballet of

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 George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...

and

Jerome Robbins Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television. Among his nu ...

, performing countless featured roles, including ''Violin Concerto'', ''Firebird'', ''Serenade'', ''Liebeslieder Walzer'', ''Divertimento No. 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 WNBC-TV 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. She even appeared with Jock Soto in some

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...

segments such as demonstrating cooperation with Elmo and Zoe. In 2002, Lopez became the executive director of The George Balanchine Foundation, which works to educate the public about dance and to further the art of ballet, with a special emphasis on the work and achievements of

. In 2007, Lopez co-founded

Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company Morphoses is a ballet company, co-founded in 2007 by Christopher Wheeldon and Lourdes Lopez. Morphoses is a guest resident company at the New York City Center and at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London. It was known as Morphoses/The Wheeldon Compa ...

with

Christopher Wheeldon Christopher Peter Wheeldon OBE (born 22 March 1973) is an English international choreographer of contemporary ballet. Life and career Born in Yeovil, Somerset, to an engineer and a physical therapist, Wheeldon began training to be a ballet dan ...

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. Lopez co-founded The Cuban Artists Fund, together with community cultural leaders. The fund supports Cuban and

artists to achieve their artistic goals, while ensuring their economic freedom. Also In 2007 Lopez received an award from the American Immigration Law Foundation honoring Cuban Americans for their accomplishments and contributions to American society. In September 2012, Lopez was named to be the artistic director of the

bringing with her a nearly 40-year career in dance, television, teaching and arts management. In 2014, Lopez was elected to serve on the

’s board of trustees, marking the first time an artist was elected to serve on its board. She is a member of

The Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

Honors artist committee. In 2011, she received the prestigious Jerome Robbins Award for her years in dance. She has also served as a dance panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, and has received numerous Hispanic Heritage awards.

Personal life

In 1987, Lopez married Lionel Saporta. She is now married to George Skouras. They live in Miami Beach and have two children, Adriel Saporta and Calliste Skouras.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Lourdes New York City Ballet principal dancers Cuban ballerinas Living people 1958 births Cuban emigrants to the United States American ballerinas School of American Ballet alumni