Ana Moreira Leal

Artistic Staff

Ana Moreira Leal, born in Havana, Cuba, 1985, is based in Houston, TX.

At nine years of age, Moreira began her ballet studies at the Alejo Carpentier National Ballet School (Escuela Nacional de Ballet Alejo Carpentier) in Havana, Cuba. She then continued her studies under the tutelage of Ramona de Sáa and Fernando Alonso at the National Art School (Escuela Nacional de Arte or ENA). It was from this school that Moreira later graduated as a Professional Dancer and Ballet teacher in 2005.

In the same year of her graduation, Moreira joined the Ballet Nacional de Cuba under the direction of renowned, prima ballerina assoluta, Alicia Alonso. The Cuban Nacional Ballet is a classical ballet company founded in 1948 in Havana. With this Company, she participated in all of the editions of the prestigious International Ballet Festival of Havana, Cuba. 

As part of the Corps de Ballet in the national company, Moreira had the opportunity to dance  in the classical ballets Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Gisselle, Nutcrackers, Coppélia, La Bella Durmiente del Bosque, and Romeo and Juliet, among other neoclassical and contemporary ballets. She also interpreted several character roles within the company’s repertoire.

Moreira worked with world-renowned choreographers such as Alberto Méndez, James Kelly, Gonzalo Galguera, Goyo Montero, Pedro Consuegra, Eduardo Blanco and Alicia Alonso, in several international ballet premieres. She also danced in international Theaters in Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Greece and Spain. 

In 2010, Moreira joined the Company Danza Combinatoria Rosario Cardenas so as to explore other artistic and creative processes while putting in practice previous experience in theater and classical ballet. This decision launched Moreira onto a new world of artistic expression. 

At different times in her career, she also collaborated on dance, film, and photography projects around the world. In 2011, she started a new career as a professional ballet teacher at the National Contemporary Dance Company of Cuba as well as with diverse private centers. In her classes, Moreira uses the methodology of the Cuban School of Ballet, which takes the principles of the Russian, American and French schools of ballet to develop its own pedagogical style recognized throughout the world.