The English National Ballet has announced officially that Guadalajara-born ballet star Isaac Hernandez will join its ranks as lead principal in April.
Hernandez, 25, made a huge impression when he was invited to appear in the company’s production of “Swan Lake” in January.
“I was blown away by his performance as Prince Siegfried at the London Coliseum,” Tamara Rojo, artistic director of English National Ballet, told the company’s website.
“I was instantly amazed by the attention to detail and dedication of the dancers and staff,” Hernandez said of his debut with the London-based company.
Hernandez, who learned ballet from his father in the backyard of his Guadalajara home, joined the Dutch National Ballet in 2012 and was promoted to principal in 2013. Previously he was in the San Francisco Ballet and American Ballet Theater. He won gold at the United States International Ballet Competition in 2006, bronze and a special commendation at the International Ballet Competition in Moscow in 2005, and first place at the International Ballet Competition in Cuba in 2004.
Talking to Mexico City daily El Universal earlier this month, Hernandez stressed how much he has learned during his spell with the Dutch Ballet, both as an artist and a human being.
He also spoke of an emotional final performance with the troupe in Amsterdam at the beginning March, which both his parents attended – their first visit to the Dutch capital.
Hernandez also acknowledged the struggles he has faced during a career that started a decade ago when he left Mexico to pursue his dreams. “I have fought against the current many times. I have had many difficult moments but I have learned to understand dance from another perspective, with a more human purpose, as an experience that can yield many good things in your life.”