31 Facts About Lupe Serrano

Guadalupe Martinez Desfassiaux Serrano, known professionally as Lupe Serrano, was a Chilean-born, Mexican-trained American ballet dancer and teacher.

Lupe Serrano spent most of her dance career at the American Ballet Theatre, where she was the troupe's first Hispanic American principal dancer.

Lupe Serrano began dancing professionally in 1944 at age 13 with the Mexico City Ballet.

Lupe Serrano then moved to New York and joined ABT in 1953.

Lupe Serrano rose to international prominence after her performances in the Soviet Union, and toured Europe and South America with ABT.

Lupe Serrano later returned to ABT to teach company classes at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School.

Lupe Serrano's fifty-year teaching career included masterclasses and guest teaching.

Lupe Serrano's father, musician Luis Martinez Serrano, was a composer, conductor, and pianist from Barcelona, Spain, and was raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Lupe Serrano's mother, Luciana Desfassiaux, was a native of Mexico, whose parents were originally from France.

Lupe Serrano's family moved back to Mexico City when she was thirteen.

In 1944, the 13-year-old Lupe Serrano began dancing with the Mexico City Ballet.

Lupe Serrano made her professional debut in Fokine's Les Sylphides.

In 1948, after taking a company class with famed Cuban dancer Alicia Alonso, Lupe Serrano accepted an invitation to join her new company Ballet Alicia Alonso, later known as the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, on a tour through Central America and Colombia for three months.

In 1951, Lupe Serrano moved to New York and joined Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo as a soloist and toured across North and South America, returning to Mexico to feature in a television program after that troupe folded.

Lupe Serrano joined the American Ballet Theatre in New York in 1953 after the former road manager of Ballet Russe, now working with ABT, invited her to audition.

Lupe Serrano joined as the first Hispanic American principal dancer in ABT history.

Lupe Serrano's repertoire included lead roles in major classical ballets such as Swan Lake, Giselle, Aurora's Wedding, and the Don Quixote pas de deux.

Lupe Serrano created several roles at ABT for Capital of the World by Eugene Loring, Paean by Herbert Ross, Sebastian by Agnes de Mille, and Lady from the Sea by Birgit Cullberg.

In 1960, Lupe Serrano toured in Russia with ABT, the first time that any American ballet company had toured the Soviet Union.

Lupe Serrano then returned to the Soviet Union for another critically acclaimed tour with the ABT.

Lupe Serrano started teaching in 1968, while she was still dancing as a guest performer with the American Ballet Theatre.

Lupe Serrano joined the faculty of the Pennsylvania Ballet as company teacher and head of the apprentice program in 1974, and remained for fourteen years, serving as director of the Pennsylvania Ballet School from 1977.

In 1988, Lupe Serrano moved to Washington, DC, and became an artistic associate of The Washington Ballet for ten years.

Lupe Serrano later taught company class at ABT, and served on the faculty of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School.

Lupe Serrano was a guest teacher and taught masterclasses for companies throughout the United States, such as the San Francisco Ballet, Cleveland Ballet, and Cincinnati Ballet, as well as the Rome Opera Ballet in Italy.

Lupe Serrano was a sought-after judge in international ballet competitions.

In 1957, Lupe Serrano married composer Kenneth Schermerhorn, who was musical director for the American Ballet Theatre and later worked with the New Jersey Symphony.

Lupe Serrano was naturalized as an American citizen in August 1961.

Lupe Serrano took a year off after giving birth to their second daughter, Veronica, in 1967.

When Lupe Serrano started teaching at the Pennsylvania Ballet School, both her daughters took classes there.

Lupe Serrano died on January 16,2023, in Syosset, New York, of complications from Alzheimer's disease.