Maikel Hernández

Principal Dancer

Maikel Hernández began dancing at the age of nine at the Alejo Carpentier School of Ballet in Havana, Cuba. In 2000, he continued his studies and training at the National School of Ballet in Havana. In 2003, he joined the National Ballet of Cuba where he grew from Corps de Ballet to Soloist in 2014, performing important roles in great classics such as Friends in Giselle, Buffon and Neapolitan in Swan Lake, Sancho Panza in Don Quixote, Caraboose Page in The Sleeping Beauty, Waldemar in Cinderella, Saltimbanquis in Shakespeare and His Masks and Beaux, Rat King and Russian in The Nutcracker, where he received incredible critics’ recognition. He also performed in Eduardo Blanco’s world premiere of La Leyenda de Agua Grande and as soloist in Tiempo de Danzón. He received technical and artistic training support from renowned instructors such as Loipa Araujo, Josefina Mendez, Aurora Bosch, Svetlana Ballester and Lázaro Carreño. Maikel performed for international choreographers such as James Kelly’s Symphony for Nine Men and the world premier of Through Your Eyes during the 20th Edition of the International Ballet Festival of Havana in 2006. He performed in Maruxa Salas’ Didenoi Dance, winning second place in the Choreography Contest of SGAE, in 2004. His professional career also includes Napoli, Flowers Festival in Genzano, A Concert in Black and White, The Challenge, Theme and Variations, A Rose for Miss Emily, The Awakening of Flora and Cinderella. Since 2005, Maikel has travelled the world performing internationally with the National Ballet of Cuba on the best stages in Spain, Italy, Australia, China, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Guyana, Martinique, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and the United States. This is Maikel’s first year as Artist in Residence with the Bay Area Houston Ballet and Theatre and is excited to join Feijoó Ballet School as Classical Ballet teacher for the Boys Ballet Class.