Gonzalo Garcia (dancer)


Gonzalo Garcia is a Spanish American ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer at the New York City Ballet and previously at the San Francisco Ballet.

Early life

Garcia was born in Zaragoza, and trained at :es:Maria de Avila|Maria de Avila's school. In 1995, he attended a summer intensive at the San Francisco Ballet School, where de Avila's daughter Lola taught. Later that year, he won the Prix de Lausanne at the age of 15, making him the youngest dancer to receive the award. After that, he returned to the San Francisco Ballet School as a full time student. At age 17, he was offered a contract to join the San Francisco Ballet by the artistic director, Helgi Tómasson, though Garcia decided to study for one more year.

Career

Garcia joined the San Francisco Ballet's corps de ballet in 1998, at age 18. In 2000, he became a soloist, and won the Princess Grace Award. In 2002, he was promoted to principal dancer at age 22, one of the youngest dancers in the company to reach this rank. He danced leading roles such as Albrecht in Giselle and Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, and originated the role of Nutcracker Prince in Tómasson's version of The Nutcracker. In 2004, he made a guest appearance at the New York City Ballet and danced Ballo della Regina, as a part of George Balanchine's centennial.
In May 2007, Garcia left the San Francisco Ballet after a performance of Don Quixote. Garcia joined the New York City Ballet as a principal dancer in October 2007. His repertoire there includes works by Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, and originated roles in works by choreographers such as Justin Peck and Alexei Ratmansky. He was coached by Mikhail Baryshnikov for Robbins' Opus 19/The Dreamer. He had performed with Christopher Wheeldon's company, Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company, and appeared in video advertisements of Tiffany & Co. and iPhone.

Personal life

Garcia is a naturalised American citizen. He and his partner, filmmaker Ezra Hurwitz, live in Upper West Side, Manhattan.

Selected repertoire

Garcia's repertoire with the San Francisco Ballet and New York City Ballet includes:

Created roles