The prima ballerina of the Berlin State Ballet held a ballet class with thousands of students on Zócalo Square in the center of Mexico City. “Leading the mass ballet course in Mexico has immense meaning for me,” said Mexican dancer Elisa Carrillo before the training. “This gathering is more than just a ballet class. It is a celebration of our country’s art and talent.”
Before working in Berlin, Carrillo danced with the Stuttgart Ballet. She is the first Latin American dancer to win the three most important ballet prizes in the world: the Prix Benois de la Danse, the Soul of Dance Award and the Prize of the International Ballet Festival Dance Open in St. Petersburg.
The 42-year-old is also a cultural ambassador for Mexico, artistic director of Mexico’s national dance company and a member of UNESCO’s International Dance Council. For her contributions to the promotion of the arts in Mexico, she was awarded Mexico’s highest artistic honor, the Medal of Bellas Artes. “When I go on stage, it is Mexico that dances,” she said before the mass training in the heart of the Mexican capital.
