Compania Nacional de Danza

The Compania Nacional de Danza was founded in 1979 under the name Ballet Clasico Nacional and headed by Victor Ullate as its first director. In February 1983, Maria de Avila took on the directorship of both the Ballet Nacional Espanol and the Ballet Clasico Espanol, placing special emphasis on opening the doors to choreographers such as George Balanchine and Anthony Tudor. Furthermore, Maria de Avila commissioned choreographies to the American dancer and choreographer Ray Barra, at the time resident in Spain. She later offered him the post as full-time director, which he accepted and held until December 1990. In December 1987, the outstanding Russian dancer Maya Plisetskaya took her post as artistic ballet director. In June 1990, Nacho Duato was installed as artistic director of what was now called the Compania Nacional de Danza (CND); a position he held for twenty years, up to July 2010. His incorporation brought about an innovative change to the companys history and make up, with ...