Ballet Hispanico Returns To City Center With World Premiere Of New Work By Eduardo Vilaro

The highly anticipated return of Ballet Hispanico to New York City’s City Center captivated audiences at its gala premiere on Thursday night. This season holds special significance, marking Eduardo Vilaro’s 15th year as the company’s artistic director. 

One of the program’s highlights, excluding the Family Matinee, will be the world premiere of Vilaro’s latest creation, In Search of Juan, featured on all three performance days. The piece draws inspiration from the Metropolitan Museum’s notable exhibition, “Juan de Pareja, Afro-Hispanic Painter,” which occurred last spring and summer.

While Juan de Pareja is primarily recognized as the subject of Diego Velasquez’s renowned 1650 portrait, he was a skilled painter. The talented dancer Leonardo Brito is tasked with interpreting the life and legacy of this historical figure. Although he has been a New York City resident for the past eight years, Brito’s roots trace back to his upbringing near Rio de Janeiro. 

Brito’s earliest encounter with dance was through the art form of capoeira—a blend of martial arts and dance intertwined with spiritual elements. “My dad introduced me to it,” Brito reminisced. “I remember at the age of 3 and 4, I have photos of me all dressed up in my capoeira uniform. My dad would just go, and we would watch.” 

Brito, who has also graced stages with the Mariinsky Ballet, Dance Theater of Florida and Alvin Ailey, ventured into modeling and appeared on the FX series Pose, found unwavering support from his family in his chosen path.

In ballet, there is often pressure to conform to European physical standards while maintaining technical proficiency. Companies like Ballet Hispanico provide an environment that alleviates such pressures. “There’s something so special about a place where you feel like you are understood and valued and celebrated,” Brito told The Amsterdam News. “When I started in ballet, I was stuck in the Russian esthetic and I was trying to change my body and all these crazy things. Ballet Hispanico [is] a celebration for us to be able to tell the stories we tell.”

Brito described it as a “liberating” experience to portray the character of Juan de Pareja and said, “For me as a black man who really hustled and who was liberated because of art, because of dance, who was given a future I didn’t even know there was a possibility of finding.”

Ballet Hispanico in performing at City Center through April 27. Get tickets here.