José Pablo Castro Cuevas joined The Joffrey Ballet in July 2019.
Mr. Castro was born in Queretaro, Mexico, and started dancing at the age of six. He participated for the first time in the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) Mexico in 2013 and received scholarships for the Escuela Superior de Musica y Danza de Monterrey and for PROVER Programa Profesional de Ballet en Córdoba, Veracruz, Córdoba, where he moved to continue his training under the direction of Martha Sahagun and Adria Velazquez. In 2015, he competed in the National Ballet Competition in Mexico City and got an invitation to the L’École Supérieure de Ballet du Québec and was mentioned as an honorific dancer. He attended YAGP Mexico once again in 2015 in which he received a scholarship for the Joffrey Academy of Dance in Chicago.
Mr. Castro moved to Chicago at the age of 14 to join the Joffrey Academy’s Pre-Professional Program Level VI, and then the Conservatory Program, both directed by Karin Ellis-Wentz. Shortly, Raymond Rodriguez, Joffrey’s Head of Trainee and Studio Company offered him a promotion to the Studio Company. During his time at the Joffrey Academy, he had the chance to perform with the main Company several times, including Christopher Wheeldon’s world premiere of The Nutcracker in 2016, as well as in the following two seasons, and Wayne McGregor’s INFRA. He performed as one of the lead dancers in Gerald Arpino’s Viva Vivaldi and as Franz in the ballet Coppélia, both during his time as a member of Joffrey’s Studio Company.