ICB Artist Bio
Joaquin De Luz
Principal Dancer, New York City Ballet
Joaquin De Luz is a principal dancer with New York City Ballet. He was born in Madrid and received his training at the Victor Ullate School of Ballet. He danced with Victor Ullate Ballet Company from 1992 until 1995. In March 1996, Mr. De Luz won the Gold Medal at the Second Nureyev International Ballet Competition in Budapest, and in August of that year, he joined the Pennsylvania Ballet as a soloist. With Pennsylvania Ballet, he danced leading roles in La Bayadère, Diana and Acteon, Don Quixote, Paquita Suite, The Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake, as well as George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Theme and Variations, and Who Cares?
Mr. De Luz joined American Ballet Theatre as a member of the corps de ballet in 1997 and was promoted to soloist in 1998. His repertory with ABT included the Bronze Idol in La Bayadère (choreographed by Natalia Makarova after Marius Petipa), the Red Cowboy in Billy the Kid (Eugene Loring), the first sailor in Fancy Free (Jerome Robbins), Benno in Swan Lake (Kevin McKenzie after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov), and leading roles in Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 (Clark Tippet) and Theme and Variations (George Balanchine).
Mr. De Luz joined New York City Ballet as a soloist in 2003, and in January 2005, he was promoted to the rank of principal dancer. Since joining NYCB, he has danced featured roles in George Balanchine’s Ballo della Regina, Coppélia (Frantz), Divertimento from “Le Baiser de la Fée”, Donizetti Variations,George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker (Cavalier, Tea, and Candy Cane), Harlequinade (Harlequin and Pierrot), Rubies from Jewels, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Oberon), Prodigal Son, Raymonda Variations, Symphony in C (third movement), Tarantella, Theme and Variations, Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, Valse-Fantaisie, and Vienna Waltzes ; Peter Martins’ Fearful Symmetries, Jeu de Cartes, Octet, and The Sleeping Beauty (Desire and Bluebird) and Swan Lake (“Pas de Quatre”); Jerome Robbins’ Andantino, Brandenburg, Dances at a Gathering, Dybbuk, Fancy Free, Four Bagatelles, The Four Seasons (Fall), The Goldberg Variations, Other Dances, and Piano Pieces; and Christopher Wheeldon’s Mercurial Manoeuvres.
Mr. De Luz originated the role of Tybalt in Peter Martins’ Romeo + Juliet in addition to originating featured roles in Jorma Elo’s Slice to Sharp, Christopher Wheeldon’s Shambards, and Alexei Ratmansky’s Concerto DSCH.
Mr. De Luz has appeared as a guest artist in numerous dance events as well as with the Ballet Mediterraneo with Fernando Bujones and with American Ballet Stars 1997 Tour of China. In February 1997, Mr. De Luz was awarded the Rising Star prize by Seven Arts Magazine in Philadelphia. Mr. De Luz represented Spain at the Expo ’98 in Lisbon, dancing in the gala Stars of Spanish Ballet.
Most recently, Mr. De Luz was awarded the Benois de la Danse award in 2009 for best male performance of the year for his role in Prodigal Son. He also toured with Kings of the Dance in Russia in 2008.