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Early Life

Lupe Serrano reliving her life as a Ballerina.

Lupe Serrano was born on December 7, 1930, in Santiago, Chile. At the time her father, Luis Martinez Serrano who was a Spanish-born, Argentine-raised musician, was leading an orchestra on a tour through South America. With him was his French-Mexican wife, Luciana Desfassiaux, whom he had met during an earlier tour through Mexico. Following Serrano's birth, her father fell ill and the young family decided to remain in Chile during his recovery.

When Serrano was only child she that she wanted to dance and so her parents enrolled her into a dance school she could channel her talent and receive formal training. In 1943 Serrano and her family moved back to her mother's native Mexico City. The move was instrumental for Serrano's dance education. She immediately began training with the Mexico City Ballet. It was difficult at first. "I had terrible habits by then," she told the Dictionary of Hispanic Biography. "But I had been in so many recitals that I had a sense of how to fill the stage." She was also completely in love with dancing and had a burning desire to be the best. Her commitment earned her a place in the company's ballet corps within a year and at 14 she debuted in the company's production of Les Sylphides. She continued dancing with the company while maintaining a heavy schedule of dance lessons and high school classes. Undaunted, she doubled her load at high school in order to finish a year early and thus be free to tour. Meanwhile, her rank in the Mexico City Ballet continued to rise and according to her official biography from the American Ballet Theatre, she eventually "established herself as Mexico's leading ballerina." At the age of eighteen, Serrano embarked upon a Central American tour with Alicia Alonso, a Cuban prima ballerina and founder of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba. Alonso is widely considered one of the greatest dancers of the twentieth century and it was a great honor for Serrano to tour with her. Serrano soon joined the Ballet Folklorico de Mexico, a Mexican-government sponsored troupe that celebrated the varied cultures of Mexico through their ethnic dances. With this company her fame in Mexico continued to rise. However, by 1950, 20-year-old Serrano yearned for more.

Career and Accomplishments

Serrano went on to perform with the American Ballet Theatre for almost two decades, eventually rising to the top position of prima ballerina. She danced more than 50 different roles including ballet classics such as Swan Lake, Giselle, La Fille Mal Gardée, and Aurora's Wedding. She also performed contemporary ballets by famed choreographers such as George Balanchine, William Dollar, Antony Tudor, and Jerome Robbins. With the company she embarked on several worldwide tours, dazzling audiences from the Soviet Union to Greece, England to Venezuela. At one memorable performance in Leningrad, the audience was so moved by her solo performance that they insisted she repeat it when she returned to the stage for the customary bow. In 1962 Serrano's experience dancing for television was called upon when she was asked to perform a duet from Le Corsaire with Rudolf Nureyev. The performance was telecast as part of the Bell Telephone Hour, a television program that brought the classical arts to the public. At the time Nureyev was already a legend in the dance world and had become the first true ballet superstar. To dance with him in such a high-profile performance was a great achievement for Serrano. A few years later Serrano gave another high-profile performance for President Lyndon Johnson at the White House.

Family Life

In 1957 Serrano married Kenneth Schermerhorn, then conductor for the American Ballet Theatre. When Schermerhorn took a position with the New Jersey Symphony, Serrano began a busy schedule of commuting to New York for rehearsals and classes. In 1963 they had their first daughter, Erica and in 1967, their second, Veronica. Under her mother's tutelage, Veronica would go on to become a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre as well. Soon after the birth of her second child, Serrano took a year-long sabbatical from dance. When she returned to the American Ballet Theatre it was as a permanent guest artist, meaning she would have the freedom to choose her own performances and could devote more time to her family. In 1971, after nearly three decades onstage, Serrano decided to take her final bow and retire as a dancer. She was 40. At about the same time Serrano and Schermerhorn divorced. Though her family in Mexico begged her to return home, Serrano remained in the United States where she turned her formidable talents to teaching full time.

Careers

American Ballet Theater, principal dancer, prima ballerina, 1953-71; National Academy of Arts in Illinois, assistant director, 1971-74; Pennsylvania Ballet School, director and teacher, 1974-88; Washington (DC) Ballet, artistic associate, 1988–; Juilliard School, New York, NY, teacher, 1997–; also danced with: Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, New York, NY; Ballet Folklorico de Mexico; the Mexico City Ballet; has also taught at American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, Minnesota Dance Theatre, Cleveland Ballet, Washington Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Rome Opera Ballet, and Ballet Nacional de Mexico.

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