Eduardo Vilaro & Ballet Hispánico
Eduardo Vilaro, the Artistic Director & CEO of Ballet Hispánico, shares how dance became a powerful tool for self-expression and cultural celebration. For Eduardo, dance is not just a form of expression, but a way to celebrate his culture and communicate with the world.
By breaking down stereotypes and creating dialogue, Eduardo and Ballet Hispanico are paving the way for a more inclusive and nuanced understanding of their rich heritage.
Read more about Eduardo and Ballet Hispánico below.
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Rebecca: What's your go to coffee order?
Eduardo: I am a coffee-holic! I love coffee and drinking it since I was little. Because it's part of our culture. So my go to is a café, which they call a latte here. But I always add an extra shot. It's either that or Cortado.
Rebecca: Oh, I love a Cortado. And you're based in New York?
Eduardo: Have you ever tried a cafe bombon?
Rebecca: Oh my god. Yes!
Eduardo: It’s good, right?
Rebecca: Oh sooo good! It's so much sugar.
Eduardo: Yeah. I go to this place. I bike ride, often. So I do a long bike ride from where I live across the bridge. And right at the end of the Tappan Zee Bridge in Nyak, There's this little, bike and coffee shop owned by these venezolanos. And they have cafe bombon, and it's the only thing that I go because I burn all the calories out.
Rebecca: That's your treat. Yeah.
Eduardo: That's my treat!
Rebecca: So what's your heritage at Eduardo?
Eduardo: So I was born in Cuba. And, immigrated to New York in 1969.
Rebecca: And how old were you?
Eduardo: I was 6.
Rebecca: Wow. Okay. How was that, growing up and transitioning to New York?
Eduardo: Well, you know, I had already started speaking Spanish, so there was there was that learning. It wasn't as difficult as, you know, my oldest brother. He had more trouble, with the language. But, you know, when you're extracted from homeland, there is always that need to belong somewhere. And so that has been a, theme in my life for many different reasons and in many different times. And so It was, it was an adventure. It was difficult a lot of the time, but it was also very rewarding. And, you know, to this day, I celebrate all those rewards.
Rebecca: How do you celebrate those rewards? How did that journey start? Is that a part of your work at Ballet Hispánico?
Eduardo: That’s how I celebrated through ballet Hispanic a lot of the time through my art. Really is how I celebrate it. So, you know, I was a kid trying to fit in. I didn't know I was gay, at, you know, at that time, but I but I knew that I was different. And so finding dance really helped save me and start pointing me on a direction of identity acceptance. Identity as an artist, identity as a gay man, identity as a Latino, identity as a BIPOC man, you know, to finally, it was in 8th grade. I did this musical and to finally feel accepted by a general audience because of the language I was using was an art form. I was singing. I was dancing. I was moving. That was something that really altered my perception of how we can really communicate. And so, you know, becoming a dancer full on and learning how to use the art as an introductory tool for culture. Like, I love developing works that speak about my culture so that people can then have a conversation. Was that Latino? That was what was that? That was that was Venezuela. No. It wasn't. It was the artist in an expression. Right? It's a dialogue that someone's having. So I think I have Personally, the best job in the world, I get to orchestrate a lot of this. First as a choreographer, someone who builds these kinds of conversations, And then as a as a leader of the the nation's largest Latinx dance organization, taking it out into the nation, through the voices of these multiple artists that I also nurture or give a catalyst to develop is is that's that's my celebration.
Rebecca: So, on that, how did you become the CEO? What Ballet Hispánico’s origin story?
Eduardo: Sure. Sure. So ballet Hispanico was founded by educator Tina Ramirez back in 1970. And Tina wanted to give opportunities to Latino and Latino children to find themselves and find a job, most importantly, in the art because she found that for herself. Absolutely. In the 1970s, you have to understand that we were dealing in New York City with white flight. A lot of the by park communities, both Latino and Black communities were left to fend for themselves. There was apparent in buildings everywhere in the Bronx where I grew up. In even in Manhattan, I mean, you couldn't go past 86th Street on the upper west side. Now you can't touch it. Right? But you couldn't go past because they're, you know, when when I went to Ballet Hispánico, there was a crack house in the corner. Right? Now they're luxury townhomes. But so so Tina came at a perfect time, to really give to the community a window of hope and of change. And so that is what this organization is based in. It's based in them. She took a handful of young ladies taught them to be excellent dancers, and they started dancing in, street fairs. They started dancing in in in different organizations, and then they started dancing on stage. And so it just blossomed into this professional company. But at the same time, she had a school of dance. And so that started growing also. So today, I was a dancer for Tina, and so I'm connected in so many ways to her original, mission But today, we've expanded that and understand that we are thought leaders, that we are social justice warriors in the work that we do by giving access to young people and also about letting the world know the diversity of our culture and how beautiful it is because there are so many cultures that came together and intersected. So that intersectionality of who we are is so rich, and has been left, really un underdeveloped because everyone wants to pigeon hole you, either you're Mexican, or you're Puerto Rican, or you're Dominican. And it's like, woah. Woah. Woah. Woah. Woah. We're so much more. And so I have the opportunity, like I said earlier, to really try to break that code and allow people to swim in the multiple waters that is latinidad.
Rebecca: Well said. Wow. That's beautiful. Finding a job in the arts in general is hard. Adding a bunch of intersections in that, even harder. So how does Ballet Hispánico find talent today?
Eduardo: So Ballet Hispánico finds talent because we have a school of dance. So we develop talent, first of all. And so some of our students have returned and are with the professional company. And then the other way is, we we've also developed, institutional choreography, which allows, choreographers to come and work with the professional companies and develop their voice. And then we also have, of course, we we we intersect when we're away in different, states, we teach. So there's an education arm to our performances that we go into a community. We don't just settle in the stage. We wanna interact. We want to do a salsa lesson. We want to sit down and talk to the community members. And so, you know, it's such a fabulous thing to be able to use this art form as a catalyst for development.
Rebecca: So tell me about what's going on soon for Hispanic heritage month?
Eduardo: So, you know, being BIPOC Latin dance company. We, celebrate being Latino Latino on a daily basis. Right? That's who we are. By just by being, we represent. But Hispanic heritage month is an opportunity to expand on that and celebrate even more. So we have an annual celebration. This year, it's called and it is kind of an open house that floods into the streets because our street last year was named Ballet Hispánico Way. Which was amazing, and speaks to Tina Ramirez's legacy. And so we have dance class in the street. We have a band. We have, taco trucks. We have, games for kids. So we invite all the neighborhood in the family to come in, and then you could take a, a class. You can try a dance class if you've ever been interested in a hip hop or a Flamenco class for the little little ones also. And then upstairs in our penthouse studios, we have performances of the dance company and our students. In a beautiful setting so that people can come and see the example of a trajectory of a young people decide a young person deciding to dance. So that's. That's October 15th. So if any of your viewers are in the neighborhood, don't miss it. We also we also are very much aware that we have to have certain discussions that sometimes might not be easy even for our own community. So we have a series called Diablo, and this series is about race dance and culture. This year, we have an annual, appearance at the Stonewall Inn the famous LGBTQ+ establishment. And we're having, 3 different guests come in and talk about creating safe spaces for our LGBTQ+, community, which is important. And so sometimes they're marginalized even from our own community. So building on that we leave no one behind. We intersect, as we were saying earlier, is important and then throughout the month, we also have if you are interested and we can't be in a performance, we have virtual offerings as well. You can find out about all of those offerings at www.ballethispanico.org.
Rebecca: Sweet. Thank you!
Eduardo: And we're on tour. The company's leaving this week on Wednesday. We're off to Canada first, but then we're going through the northeast and also, the southeast, in different performances in different cities. So we're celebrating a Hispanic Heritage Month out in the road.
Rebecca: That's so fun. Awesome. How has this changed you, over the course of your career? And where do you see it going from here?
Eduardo: Where do I see all this important work so the future?
Rebecca: Yeah.
Eduardo: I think that it has changed me as a person, but a long time ago, when I was dancing for the company, And that is, you know, that it, really gave me the opportunity to realize that I could be a leader that I could, you know, this kid from the Bronx who was an immigrant, Latino, can be in front of major audiences with other leaders and and have a voice for my community. That's really been the ultimate amazingness of my trajectory. Because when you think of it, I didn't know that I was gonna, you know, we were out in the streets playing stick ball in in the Bronx who knew where I was going but this art form in Ballet Hispanico led me to this. And I think for Ballet Hispanico, the future is about becoming such a bigger beam of light for our community. So they can come. They can enjoy, and they can see us.
Rebecca: That's beautiful. What do you hope for the future?
Eduardo: You know what? I I'm so glad you asked that question because I feel that as Ballet Hispanico dancer, you come in, you leave different. And they and I know it. I hear it. I see it. I see them become leaders. They understand that they are a voice and a vehicle for change, and they will not stand down they understand that we have specific values that I protect them as much as they protect the the organization. And, you know, we don't don't aspire just to dance. Everyone who comes into the that door knows that they're going to inspire change, and that's very important.
Rebecca: It's more than dance. It's like you said, the catalyst, but it's real it's really a community.
Eduardo: It is. Great questions by the way.
Rebecca: Oh, thank you. What's been feeding your mind? Like, your role models or the music that you've been listening to or podcasts, books.
Eduardo: You know, I'm into old school music. I was a house kid. You know, I was on the streets out there voguing at one point.
Rebecca: Fun!
Eduardo: I was one of those kids! Right? And but I never thought I would get into hip hop, and I am in love. I just think that people like Bad Bunny are doing some extraordinary things in their lyrics and how they're uplifting our community now today. And I support that. I support that so much. So people like that inspire me. I'm inspired by Vanessa Valdés. Vanessa Valdés is this amazing curator and a leader at the Schomburg Center for Research who's written a book. I just finished reading her book, and it's a it's about female writers, Latinos, and how they use our Afro Latinidad and those beliefs in order to spurn their writing and how they just an amazing book. So I take my inspiration from so many different areas.
Rebecca: I love that. Oh my god. This is great. I'm always inspired by everyone that we interview. It's like you're filling my cup, so thank you so much.
Eduardo: Oh, I appreciate that.
Drink 🫖
What is Eduardo’s go-to drink?
“My go-to is a café, which they call a latte here. But I always add an extra shot. It's either that or Cortado.”
Eduardo also enjoys a cafe bombon as a bike ride treat!
Listening To 🎧
What is Eduardo listening to at the moment?
“I just think that people like Bad Bunny are doing some extraordinary things in their lyrics and how they're uplifting our community now today. And I support that. I support that so much. So people like that inspire me. I'm inspired by Vanessa Valdés. Vanessa Valdés is this amazing curator and a leader at the Schomburg Center for Research who's written a book. I just finished reading her book, and it's a it's about female writers, Latinos, and how they use our Afro Latinidad and those beliefs in order to spurn their writing and how they just an amazing book. So I take my inspiration from so many different areas. ”
Your Truth 🗣️
What is a Eduardo’s truth?
“So, you know, being BIPOC Latin dance company. We, celebrate being Latino Latino on a daily basis. Right? That's who we are. By just by being, we represent. But Hispanic heritage month is an opportunity to expand on that and celebrate even more. So we have an annual celebration. This year, it's called and it is kind of an open house that floods into the streets because our street last year was named Ballet Hispánico Way. Which was amazing, and speaks to Tina Ramirez's legacy. And so we have dance class in the street. We have a band. We have, taco trucks. We have, games for kids. So we invite all the neighborhood in the family to come in, and then you could take a, a class. You can try a dance class if you've ever been interested in a hip hop or a Flamenco class for the little little ones also. And then upstairs in our penthouse studios, we have performances of the dance company and our students. In a beautiful setting so that people can come and see the example of a trajectory of a young people decide a young person deciding to dance. So that's. That's October 15th. So if any of your viewers are in the neighborhood, don't miss it. We also we also are very much aware that we have to have certain discussions that sometimes might not be easy even for our own community. So we have a series called Diablo, and this series is about race dance and culture. This year, we have an annual, appearance at the Stonewall Inn the famous LGBTQ+ establishment. And we're having, 3 different guests come in and talk about creating safe spaces for our LGBTQ+, community, which is important. And so sometimes they're marginalized even from our own community. So building on that we leave no one behind. We intersect, as we were saying earlier, is important and then throughout the month, we also have if you are interested and we can't be in a performance, we have virtual offerings as well. ”
Your Plug 🔌
What is Eduardo plugging today?
Check out Ballet Hispánico’s Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 in-person and virtual events and community programs!
More about Ballet Hispánico
Ballet Hispánico is the largest Latinx/Latine/Hispanic cultural organization in the United States and one of America’s Cultural Treasures. Ballet Hispánico’s three main programs, the Company, School of Dance, and Community Arts Partnerships bring communities together to celebrate the multifaceted Hispanic diasporas. Ballet Hispánico’s New York City headquarters provide the physical home and cultural heart for Latinx dance in the United States. It is a space that initiates new inclusive cultural conversations and explores the intersectionality of Latine cultures. No matter their background or identity – Latine, Latinx, Hispanic – Ballet Hispánico welcomes and serves all, breaking stereotypes and celebrating the beauty and diversity of Hispanic cultures through dance.
More about Eduardo Vilaro
Eduardo Vilaro is the Artistic Director & CEO of Ballet Hispánico (BH). He was named BH's Artistic Director in 2009, becoming only the second person to head the company since its founding in 1970, and in 2015 was also named Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Vilaro has infused Ballet Hispánico’s legacy with a bold brand of contemporary dance that reflects America’s changing cultural landscape.
