Guest Choreographers

Rodney Rivera

Rodney trained at the Julian Blanco Classical Ballet School of P.R., and continued his training at the Ballet Concierto of Puerto Rico Conservatory. His ballet teachers include Vladimir Issaev, Carlota Carrera, José Parés, Joaquín Banegas, and Silvia Marichal. He was awarded a scholarship from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA, where he received ballet training with Roberto Munoz and Laura Alonso. In 1994, and under Lolita San Miguel’s tutelage, he represented PR in the Fifth International Ballet Competition at Jackson, Mississippi. Being trained by María Carrera, he became the first Puerto Rican male dancer to participate in this international event. As principal soloist with Ballet Concierto of Puerto Rico, he performed leading roles in La Fille Mal Gardee, Le Corsaire, Don Quixote, Paquita, Flames of Paris, Giselle, and Sleeping Beauty, among others. Leading roles in world premieres were created for Rodney by Carlos Iván Santos, Antonio Gomes, Jesus Miranda, Lolita Villanua, Michael Uthoff, Brett Raphael, Alberto Méndez, Vladimir Issaev, Nicholas Beriosoff, Christian Holder, Fernando Bujones, and Ana Sanchez Colberg, among others. In 2000, he became part of Andanza’s first members, where he was both a dancer and part of the faculty. He was one of the leading choreographers at Andanza for over five years. With Andanza, he choreographed La Familia de Todos Nosotros (2004), Transito, Tu o Yo, Cuerpo (2005), Erase (2006), Absurdo (2007), Sed (2008), and Andanza Cósmica (2009). His Ballet Brio debut started with the piece Donde Estan? , which won a gold medal in Certamen Interamericano de Danza, Argentina in 2005. He proceeded to choreograph Eso Que Llamas (2006), Tango Mundo (2007), Olas y Arenas (2005), Semillas (2004), 7 Pecados, Judas, Memory and Glass (2003), Guardadito, En Cuatro Tiempos (2007), Pica Pica, Romani (2009), Lady Godiva , ”Rebote” , El Idioma Anterior, Ojos de Sordo, Odios de Ciego and Bomraiz (2012), among others. For Balleteatro Nacional of Puerto Rico he has created, “Techo de Cristal”, “El Regreso”, and “Corasi”. His prolific career as a choreographer include collaborations with Island Moving Company, Ballets de San Juan, Zig Zag Ballet, Andanza PR, Connecticut Ballet, Ballet Municipal of San Juan, Ballet Concierto of P.R., Hermanos Cepeda Foundation, Ballet Brio, Point Park University, Balleteatro Nacional of P.R. , San Antonio Ballet, and Teatro Repertorio of the University of Puerto Rico, where he was the resident choreographer and has staged the musicals, “Evita” , “Les Miserables”, “The Sound of Music” and “Into The Woods”. His work has been presented successfully in International festivals such as the Miami International Ballet Festival, Festival de Ballet de la Habana Cuba (2016) , Aquins Festival Haiti , All Stars of Dance Gala, Festival de Coreografos de Ballet Concierto de PR (2013), Festival Internacional de Teatro de PR (2005), World Ballet Competition, Green Street Studios, MA., among others. Also, he has created works for movies and for opera. He has danced in major theaters around the globe including Taiwan, Cuba, Haiti, Egypt, Japan, USA, Martinique, Aruba, Mexico, Spain and Italy. In 2010 The Institute of Culture of Puerto Rico recognized him as the best choreographer of the year for his enormous contribution to dance in PR. That same year, he became the artistic director at Ballet Brio. Since 2013, Vasilie Petrutiu, founder of World Ballet Competition (WBC), has extended him an invitation to become part of the jury of the renowned competition. Some of his work has been performed in the “All Stars of Dance Gala” of this competition. That same year, he became the Artistic Director of the School of the Performing Arts at Bayamon where he was in charge of a variety population of students from different programs, including dance, theater, music, orchestra, choir, folklore, among others. During the 2015 summer months, the renowned producer Piers Playfair commissioned him a work entitled Shostakovich En Tres, where he worked with principal dancers from the Pennsylvania Ballet, Hungarian National Ballet Company, and New Jersey Ballet. He was also asked to join the Faculty at the Sagrado Corazon University Undergraduate’s Coda 21 Dance Program where he was a professor. He has established himself as a master ballet instructor. Some of his students have gone on to dance with ABT, NYCB, DTH, SAB, Eglevsky Ballet, Connecticut Ballet, and Martha Graham Dance Co. Rivera’s latest work, “Lo Que No Fue” (2016) and “Memorias y Vidrios” (2017) have been presented successfully at Festival de Ballet de La Habana Cuba, Boston Ma., Newport, and Kansas City, with great reviews by the audience and press.