Luis V. Santana González - Guest Artist

LUIS V. SANTANA GONZÁLEZ

Luis Víctor Santana was born in Mantua, Pinar del Río, Cuba. He started ballet studies at the age of 8 at the Art Vocational School in Pinar del Río. Later, he became part of the National Ballet School in Havana, Cuba, where he trained with Martha Iris Fernández, Ramona de Saa Bello (current director of the Escuela Nacional Fernando Alonso), among others. He graduated 2007. He became part of the Corps of Ballet of Ballet Nacional de Cuba, under the direction of the prima ballerina assoluta Alicia Alonso, where he trained with teachers such as Ana María Leyte, Svetlana Violeta Ballester and Félix Rodríguez. In three years he was promoted to the role of soloist dancing the pas de six of Swan Lake, the bullfighters of Don Quixote, the principal in Majísimo, Diálogo 4, George Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, the friends of Giselle, soloist in Dionaea, Rara Avi by Alberto Méndez, and all the classical repertoire of the company. After six years in the company, he defected to the United States during a trip to Mexico.  A few months later, he joined the Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami where he danced the pas de deux Diana and Acteon. In that same year 2013, he joins the company of Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico as principal dancer, coached by the ballet master Victor Gilí (first dancer of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba). He danced in the company the following repertoire: Grand Pas Classique pas de deux; leading role of Franz in the full length ballet Coppélia  with Adiarys Almeida; Desire pas de deux by Austin Ballet Artistic Director Stephen Mills ; the leading role of Raoul and the Phantom at Alberto Méndez’s Phantom of the Opera; Sugar Plum Cavalier and Snow pas de deux at The Nutcracker; Nous Sommes pas de deux by Jimmy Gamonet; Basilio and Espada at Don Quijote; Cos by Maria Rovira;  Alí at Le Corsaire; Oberon at Jimmy Gamonet’s Midsummer’s Night Dream; principal role at Septime Webre’s Carmina Burana;  principal role of Paquita.  As guest artist, he has danced: Swan Lake at Ballet Etudes; The NutcrackerGiselle, and Dracula at Brandon Ballet; La Sylphide, R&J (contemporary adaptation of Romeo and Juliet), choreography of Gina Mills,  the roles of Chesire Cat, Dodo Bird and Jeser in Septime Webre’s Alice in Wonderland, and Septime Webre’s Peter Pan with CODA 21;  Ali at Le Corsaire and The Nutcraker with Balleteatro Nacional, and Snow White at School of Performing Arts. In 2018 he was part of the company CODA 21 and Mauro Ballet, where he interpreted pieces such as Tchaikovsky pas de deux, Rassemblement, Somos, Pérdida, Rockelbels Canon, Carmen and Don Quijote.

Her repertoire includes the leading roles of Giselle, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Carmen, Coppélia, Sylvia, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Les Sylphides, Grand Pas de Quatre; Dying Swan, Majísimo; pas de deux such as Diana and Acteon, Don Quixote, Flames of Paris, Talisman, Spring Waters, Romeo and Juliet, La Bayadere, Flower Festival; and neoclassical and contemporary works like Piazzolla en Concierto of Julio López;  Alberto Mendez’s Muñecos, Intermezzi per L’amore, Paso a Tres and Phantom of the Opera, George Balanchine’s Serenade, In the Night by Jerome Robbins, Carmina Burana by Septime Webre,  Ana Sánchez-Colberg’s Ojos que no ven and Entre Huella y Pisada, Rodney Rivera’s Techo de Cristal, ¿Dónde Están? and El Regreso, María Julia Landa’s Entre Cuerdas Rotas, and Sonata by Carlos Iván Santos.

She has been guest artist and guest teacher in companies of the United States and Latin America, as well as Festivals such as: three editions of the Miami International Dance Festival, the Festival Puerta de Oro in Colombia, the International Dance Festival in Panama, and the 24 and 25 edition of the Festival Internacional de Ballet Alicia Alonso en la Habana, Cuba. She is one of the choreographers of the new versions of Carmen, The Nutcracker, Sylvia, Little Red Riding Hood, among other choreographies for Balleteatro Nacional.  She trained and choreographed for the Puerto Rican delegation that represented the Island in the semifinal and final of the YAGP 2013 competition. She led Christian dance groups, and has also been a commercial dancer in television specials, films, shows and events.  She holds a bachelor degree in Public Relations. Since 2017, Laura is the director and founder, with her husband the former principal dancer Osmay Molina, of Centro Danza, a dance training and education center specialized in ballet.

She has been guest artist and guest teacher in companies of the United States and Latin America, as well as Festivals such as: three editions of the Miami International Dance Festival, the Festival Puerta de Oro in Colombia, the International Dance Festival in Panama, and the 24 and 25 edition of the Festival Internacional de Ballet Alicia Alonso en la Habana, Cuba. She is one of the choreographers of the new versions of Carmen, The Nutcracker, Sylvia, Little Red Riding Hood, among other choreographies for Balleteatro Nacional.  She trained and choreographed for the Puerto Rican delegation that represented the Island in the semifinal and final of the YAGP 2013 competition. She led Christian dance groups, and has also been a commercial dancer in television specials, films, shows and events.  She holds a bachelor degree in Public Relations. Since 2017, Laura is the director and founder, with her husband the former principal dancer Osmay Molina, of Centro Danza, a dance training and education center specialized in ballet.