Miami City Ballet’s artistic director has been making history for over half a century

When she danced, Lourdes López’s movements were so sublime that no one in the audience would’ve imagined that she had spent part of her childhood with her feet strapped into orthopedic shoes.

After an award-winning career on stage, Lourdes López has orchestrated the moves of hundreds of Miami City Ballet dancers for a decade as artistic director of the company, the first woman to hold this position.

For more than half a century, the Cuban-American artist has managed to keep leveling up her career. Yet, her focus is not on her achievements, but on helping others.

Breaking barriers since her first steps

During her first years of life, Lourdes López’s steps were guided by orthopedic shoes that helped her walk.

Her family emigrated from Cuba to Miami when she was just 2 years old. When she was 5 years old, her mother decided to enroll her in ballet classes so that she would have more physical activity, following her doctor’s instructions.

Three years later, when she no longer needed the orthopedic boots, the ballet classes became a luxury.

Her dad had a “grown-up conversation” with López and told her, “Your boots have been taken away and these ballet classes are an expense for us, they are not cheap. Is this something you want to continue, or do we cancel them?”

López was resolute. “I remember saying, ‘No, I really want to continue. I can’t explain it, but there’s something about the ballet that I love,’ ” she shared with el Nuevo Herald.

Her beginnings in the dance industry

“It was wonderful growing up in Miami,” recalls the now 64-year-old dancer. As she describes it, the city was smaller and quieter, but there was still no ballet company for which she could dance professionally.

When she was 11 years old, she received a full scholarship to attend the School of American Ballet in New York.

“I think that’s what made my parents think, ‘She doesn’t just like it, Lourdes must have some talent.’ ”

Three years later, she moved to the city alongside her sister. By the time she was 16, she joined the New York City Ballet company as a professional dancer.

In 1981 she was promoted to soloist and three years later, she became the company’s principal dancer, earning praise from dance critics for her masterful performance in works created and directed by prestigious industry figures such as George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins.

“There is something that is never mentioned and that I am very proud of. It is to have been the first and only Latin principal dancer — until today — of the New York City Ballet. Latin and Cuban,” she said in an interview with dance critic Orlando Taquechel.

After a successful career on stage, López retired at age 39. But even though she was finished dancing, she wasn’t done with ballet.

For a few years, López worked as a cultural reporter for WNBC in New York, where she wrote and produced segments on the arts. She also became a teacher at the Ballet Academy East and at Barnard College, both in New York.

In 2002 she became the executive director of an educative organization called The George Balanchine Foundation.

Five years later, she founded a contemporary ballet company named Morphoses where she collaborated with English choreographer Christopher Wheeldon.

López also co-founded The Cuban Artist Fund, a nonprofit organization that helps Cuban creators achieve economic independence.

In 2011 she was awarded the prestigious Jerome Robbins Award for her years in dance.

After living in New York for four decades, she returned to Miami in 2012 when she received an offer to be the director of the local ballet company.

“Somehow ballet found me again,” she said.

Back home

Expectations from the Miami City Ballet audience were high at her arrival due to the huge success of her predecessor, Edward Villella, whose drive surpassed the company’s financial capacity and had to resign to save the troupe from bankruptcy.

Despite Villella’s big achievements, López’s distinctive artistic direction quickly gained prominence.

“Year after year, López has brought the company closer to the model that she proposed at the beginning and that is a huge achievement. I think that if there was any uncertainty about her ability to lead the company, keep it at the level it had, take it to the next one and modernize it, there should be no doubt at this time,” Taquechel told el Nuevo Herald.

López made it clear from the beginning that her focus would be on modernizing the company’s performance and a decade later, that continues to be her goal.

“She has been exploring the possibilities of the company as a whole. She has given a new face to the Miami City Ballet and the response from the public has been positive,” says Taquechel, explaining that López has managed to develop works that reach audiences on an emotional level.

López’s experience as a dancer allowed her to have a smooth transition into the role of director where she was welcomed by the crew.

“She is demanding with the team, but at the same time, she gives us the opportunity to communicate with her. If I ever feel any discomfort or injury, I feel free to tell her,” acclaimed principal dancer Katia Carranza told el Nuevo Herald.

In 2012, her first year as director of the company, López received recognition from the American Immigration Law Foundation, which seeks to honor Cuban Americans for their contributions to American society.

Her honors in the company include the Dance Magazine Award in 2018. In 2019 she was awarded the Ballet Hispánico “Toda Una Vida” Lifetime Achievement Award. During the 2021 Miami International Ballet Festival, she received the “A Life for Dance” award.

A light of hope in dark times

In 2020, during the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, the artistic director promised to keep the dancers employed, rehearsing and creating new performances. These efforts allowed the company to present “The Nutcracker” outdoors in Downtown Doral Park.

During the 14 sold-out performances, every day 500 people — keeping social distancing — gathered to enjoy the ballet that gave the community a breath of fresh air.

“ ‘The Nutcracker’ is a family play. For many children, having watched the show in the midst of the pandemic must have had great significance. Probably very few of those who saw it are going to become dancers, but they will certainly remember it forever,” commented Taquechel.

“I want the best for the company and for the city. So I ask myself, ‘What can I do to make sure that happens?’ That’s how I start my day,” López said.

In the midst of the pandemic, López commissioned Claudia Schreier to choreograph a digital ballet film named “Places” that was published in November 2020. As a Black female artist, Schreier is the exception to the rule in an industry dominated by white male leadership.

It was important for López to give Schreier the space to thrive. “That is what is so exciting about Claudia’s work for MCB,” López said in a previous interview with the Miami Herald. “It’s pushing Claudia to another level of her talent, which is essential.”

During that year, the company’s students received classes through Zoom to stay fit.

“That kind of creative thinking in times of crisis and sticking to your values is a great example of the kind of leader Lourdes López is,” said Jeffrey Davis, chairman of the Miami City Ballet Board of Trustees.

Overcoming political divisions and international barriers

López has also managed to create artistic bridges for the greater good.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, she set out to find ways to help those affected by the conflict and started a visa application for Yuliia Moskalenko, a 28-year-old Ukrainian ballerina who was a member of the National Ballet of Ukraine.

In a world of political divisions, López managed to get both Democrats and Republicans to join the process of recruiting Moskalenko for the Miami City Ballet.

The Ukrainian dancer said she was lucky to join Miami’s company. “This opportunity came out of nowhere. I had to take advantage of it,” she told The New York Times.

López’s efforts during the arduous legal process that took more than three months were “extraordinary,” as Davis describes them.

“One of the things that I found incredible was that she had to seek the support of Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Democratic Representative Deborah Wasserman Schultz,” he explained. “Lourdes didn’t approach it as a political issue but with a sense of compassion.”

“One of the reasons we did it was to show that it can be done. You open a path, you show it to the world and others follow,” asserted López.

Carranza, the Miami City Ballet dancer, confirms that López is “a great inspiration for everyone” and assures that through her example she has opened “many doors to let us know that dreams can be achieved, that with work and effort we can reach our goals.”

Aware of the responsibility that this involves, López continues to enjoy every step of her way in the industry. She says, “I am doing what I love and have been doing what I love since I was eight years old. Not many people can say that.”