Chronological Summary of Career Highlights

Evelyn Cisneros taking her final bow at 

the San Francisco Ballet in 1999

Credits: Robin Weiner

As for her career, Evelyn Cisneros has an extensive amount of accomplishments that contribute to her legacy. Her successes began almost by chance as according to the article “Evelyn Cisneros: The First Hispanic Prima Ballerina” by Sofia Godoy of the Homeschool Spanish Academy, Evelyn solidified her place as a principal dancer when she replaced an injured dancer in New York City of 1976 just hours before the performance and amazed the audience. Cisneros’ career truly ascended from this point on as she began dancing principal roles and was choreographed by well respected choreographers for the remainder of her career including: Michael Smuin, Helgi Tomasson, Val Caniparoli, James Kudelka, and many others. She gained an increasingly large audience for her skill as she was technically precise, expressive, and possessed obvious beauty and charisma. After building a fan base and a name for herself amongst the ballet community, she began to perform original pieces on live television and at the peak of her career, gave a performance at the White House. Cisneros also went on to dance as the star of many classical pieces such as Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and La Sylphide. Even aside from the performances themselves, she made the cover of many magazines, received awards for her community activism (such as an honorary doctorate from University of California at Monterey Bay), and was beloved by many for her representation of the Latino community.