Pedro Ruiz is a celebrated international choreographer and dancer who was born and trained in Cuba, and later in Venezuela. During his 21-year career with Ballet Hispanico as a principal dancer, Ruiz choreographed three critically acclaimed ballets for the company, among
them Club Havana, which has become a signature piece for the company. Last November, he premiered La Estancia for the New Jersey Ballet, alongside cellist YoYo Ma and Wynton Marsalis at NJPAC. On July 25, 2023, Ruiz will have a world premiere at the Baand Together Dance Festival of his new work Pas de O’Farill, a collaboration between Ballet Hispánico and New York City Ballet, commissioned by Lincoln Center. In February 2010, Mr. Ruiz created The Windows Project, a groundbreaking endeavor celebrating the art of dance as a cultural bridge between the U.S. and Cuba, which was captured in a PBS Emmy-nominated documentary in 2011 called: Coming Home. As a dancer, Ruiz was distinguished with a Bessie Award, the New York Dance World’s highest honor, the Choo-San Goh Award, The Cuban Artists Fund Award and The Joyce Foundation Award. For 10 years, Ruiz was Resident Artist of the Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program at Hunter. He has also taught master classes and performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Central and South America. Today he is on the dance faculty of Hunter College, Marymount College, The Ailey School, Pace University and 92NY Harkness Dance Center and teaches company class for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Ballet Hispanico.
