
A
native of Chile, Mr. Muñoz was born into a family of dancers.
Both of his parents were pioneers of the dance movement in Chile
during the late 40's and 50's. With them, he traveled
throughout South America and the Caribbean: first with Ballet de Concepción and later on with Ballet Municipal de Maracaibo and
Ballet de la Universidad del Zulia, taking this art form to places
where Ballet had rarely been seen before.
Thanks to his parents' influence and under their tutelage, Roberto Muñoz
began his career at a very early age.
His professional dancing career began at Pittsburgh Ballet Theater
in 1972, where he was fortunate to work with Ballet Masters such as:
Nicholas Petrov, Leonid Massine, Edward Caton, Vitale Fokine, Ruth
Page, JohnTaras, John Butler, Frano Jelencic.
He later danced with Ballet Internacional de Caracas, under the
direction of the late Vicente Nebrada and with Hartford Ballet,
under the direction of Michael Uthoff, where he was introduced to
the works of Alvin Ailley, Margot Sappington and José Limon.
In 1980, the Venezuelan government appointed Mr. Muñoz as the
Artistic Director of Ballet del Zulia, where he was in charge of
both, the School and the Company.pany.
His commitment as a teacher and coach takes strong hold and
establishes during this period, thus leading the company to two
thriving seasons with great critical and popular acclaim.
Back in the USA, Mr. Muñoz continued his teaching career at the
Dance Department of Point Park College (Now University).
There, he was appointed as the Director of the Conservatory of Dance
and Music, where he created two very successful programs: the
Pre-professional Division and the International Summer Dance
Program, where students received intensive training in the classroom
as well as in the performing arena.
Among the faculty Mr. Muñoz assembled were: Laura Alonso, Haidée
Gutiérrez. Karen Brown, Eva Evdokimova, Wily Burmann, Alexander
Filipov, Nicholas Petrov, John McFall, Jose Molina, Michael Uthoff,
Magda Aunon, Anthony Salatino,Kenneth Johnson, Barbara Sandonato.
Mr. Munoz was a faculty member at Point Park College for 13 years,
teaching all levels of Ballet technique, Character Dance and Male
Ballet Technique. During that time, Mr. Munoz also served as part
time faculty at the PBT school and Company under the direction of
Patricia Wilde.
Alumni of these programs are currently dancing or have danced at:
Arizona Ballet, Boston Ballet, Houston Ballet, Hubbart
Street, Ballet Met, Ballet West, New York City Ballet, Ballet
British Columbia, Pittsburgh Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, on
Broadway and on tours across the USA and overseas.
Mr. Munoz was also a full time faculty member at the Baltimore
School for the Performing Arts from 1995 to 1997 after which he
returned to Pittsburgh to join PBT as Ballet Master.
Mr. Munoz has served as Panelist for the Ohio Arts Council and has
been a Guest Teacher at: Atlanta Ballet, Annapolis Ballet Theater,
Ballet Met, Boston Ballet, Canton Ballet, Mary Grove College (Detroit,MI),
Houston Ballet, Prodanza in Havana Cuba, Ballet de Monterrey
(Mexico), West Virginia Dance Festival, Nureyev International Dance
Competition (Budapest, Hungary) and Jackson International Dance
Competition, among others.
Finally, Roberto Muñoz, received the Harry Shualb "Award of
Excellence" and the Edward Caton award for "Most Influential
Teacher."
Mr. Muñoz has been Ballet Master for the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater
since 1997. On July 2004, he was appointed Director of the
Pittsburgh Ballet theater School and Associate Ballet Master for the
Company. He is also currently listed as Principal Character Dancer
in the PBT Company's playbill.
He collaborates with artistic director Terrence Orr in re-staging
full length Ballets like: Coppelia, Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Giselle
and, most recently, a brand new production of the Nutcracker and
Romeo and Juliet.
He has assisted choreographers like: Kevin O'Day, Dwight Rhoden,
Lisa De Ribere , Robert Hill and has rehearsed the Ballets of Glenn
Tetley, Paul Taylor, Ben Stevenson, Daniel Pelzigh and George
Balanchine.
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