Santos in Elena Kunikova’s Divertimento
When Dance Theatre of Harlem’s Dylan Santos was studying at the Houston Ballet Academy, his teacher Claudio Muñoz gave him the “aha” moment he needed to take his training to the next level.
“I remember doing the cavalier variation from The Nutcracker for him. He looked at me and said, ‘You could be amazing.’ He then called me aside and said in Spanish, ‘You’re a beautiful dancer, but you need to pay attention. You can be bigger than you think. You just need to focus on what’s important.’ Having him let me know that I could get there gave me confidence.”
Claudio Muñoz has been a teacher at Houston Ballet Academy for 17 years. He was a recipient of a 2016 Dance Teacher Award in the category of studio/conservatory teachers.
Catch Dance Theatre of Harlem in Chicago, November 18–20, at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University.
Photo by Kent Becker, courtesy of Dance Theatre of Harlem
