The Argentine Hector Zaraspe, dance teacher of several generations of artists, died in New York, at the age of 92. You have been a teacher at the prestigious Juilliard School and have given private lessons to figures such as Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn.
Zaraspe was born in Aguilares, Tucumán on June 4, 1930. At the age of eight she became interested in folk dances and later in Spanish dance. Thanks to a scholarship, she also trained in classical ballet at the Teatro Colón, with teachers such as Otto Weber, Esmée Bulnes and Gema Castillo.
Stays in Spain and the United States
In 1954 he settled in Madrid, where he carried out the project for the Madrid Choreographic High School. He gave lessons to great Spanish dancers such as Antonio Ruiz Soler, Antonio Gades, Luisillo and Luis Fuente, among others.
A trip with a Spanish ballet takes him to New York in 1964, and some time later he becomes a teacher at the Juilliard School, located in Lincoln Square in the heart of Manhattan. it was presented Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn, becoming the private master of the famous couple. He has taught other celebrities in the dance world such as Olga Ferriand promoted the careers of young people Where Herrera.
His legacy at Juilliard has been so important that since 1998 the Zaraspe Prize has been awarded for the most outstanding choreographic work. He worked there for 35 years and retired.
Zaraspe was also a professor at the American Ballet Center and a guest at the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón. He has been an instructor at the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro Colón, Hamburg, Caracas and Geneva. He has chaired international dance juries and seminars in Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela. created the show tango passion, very successful all over the world
In 1989 he received a Konex award and in 1993 he created the Zaraspe Foundation in Tucumán, which seeks artistic talent among the children who attend the canteens and rural schools of the province, thanks to an initial agreement with the United Nations, which allowed him to bring there in New York, for his improvement.
his last days
His delicate state of health led him to spend a few days in Memorial Hospital in New York, from where he was discharged at the end of January 2023. At 11:43pm on Monday, February 13, 2023, he passed away at his Manhattan home.New York, at 92 years old.
on social networks he was remembered with affection and admiration by Julio Bocca and Paloma Herrera.
Bocca wrote: “His personality, his love of neighbor and his constant support of dance are part of the legacy of this great human being.”
And Paloma Herrera remembered it like this: “She saw me in Buenos Aires and told me that if I wanted she could arrange an audition for me, and at 15 I entered the School of American Ballet and my life changed forever”.
Source: Clarin
