Juliana Morello
Isaac Hernández learned to dance in the backyard of his home in Guadalajara, Mexico. Though he has since worked with several renowned ballet companies, Hernández continues to stay connected to where it all began.
Hernández first joined San Francisco Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in 2008. He was promoted to Soloist in 2011, and then rapidly rose through the ranks, making his way to both the Dutch National Ballet and the English National Ballet. Today, he is a Principal Dancer with San Francisco Ballet, which he returned to in 2022. However, he left the company when his contract ended on July 1.
Hernández has received numerous awards throughout his career, including the Medal of Fine Arts, from the President of Mexico in 2018. He is both founder and artistic director of his own production company, Soul Arts Productions. This company produces DESPERTARES, the largest ballet show in Latin America. Held in the Auditorio Nacional, which hosts 20,000 spectators, DESPERTARES has sold out twice consecutively.
Though he has excelled in his field, Hernández makes sure to remain connected with his community. Not only is he an arts and tourism ambassador of Mexico, but he and his brother Esteban, also a dancer, have set up a non-profit organization in their hometown which aims to teach children to dance as a means to escape violence, drug addiction, and crime. The Centro de Formación y Promoción de Danza Clásica Isaac y Esteban Hernández is headed by their father, Hector Hernández, who taught both of them to dance growing up. Hector is also the founder and director of Mexico’s first free ballet school, the Escuela Municipal de Ballet Tlajomulco, where Isaac and Esteban both teach in their free time.
Photo credits: Soul Arts Productions website
