AUTOMOTIVE IndUsTrY In MExIcO Ready to Overtake - ProMéxico

52 Negocios ProMéxico | The Lifestyle Negocios ProMéxico | The Lifestyle 53
Elisa Carrillo
At Home on tHe
World’s stAges
When Elisa Carrillo Cabrera takes the stage –which
she frequently does– spectators literally gasp at
the sight of this dark-skinned Mexican goddess
with long hair and a mole on her left cheek. She is
nothing like the classical ballet dancers they are used to seeing, yet
so self-confident and masterful in her movements, the audience
barely has time to blink.
Three in the afternoon. The face of a slight young woman appears
on my computer screen wearing a broad smile and a highcollared
blouse. She tells me she misses Mexico, which she knows
like the back of her hand, having explored it on road trips with
her parents as a child. She says she misses the food, too, which is
perfectly understandable. Elisa was born in Texcoco, Estado de
México, a central state that produces many of the exotic fruits and
vegetables responsible for the culinary syncretism –that unique
fusion of native and Spanish influences– that has brought Mexican
cuisine international acclaim. The most memorable vacation she
remembers was in Nayarit, a Pacific state rich in seafood. “Sometimes
I long for a tortilla, an avocado, a tlacoyo, beans, stuffed chili
peppers, cebiche…”
Little girls the world over dream of living her life,
of becoming professional ballet dancers, for Elisa
is prima ballerina of the Berlin State Opera Ballet,
one of the most prestigious companies
in the world, no less.
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by vanesa robles
photos courtesy of conaculta
Elisa jokes as she talks. It is hard to believe this bright-eyed,
down-to-earth young girl is the same one Mexico’s House of Representatives
appointed “Ambassador of Mexican Culture” in May 2010.
Until recently, she also missed the weather in Mexico, but has
since learned to appreciate the changing of the seasons in Europe.
Just as she appreciates the milestones in her career: it was 12
years ago, when Elisa was at the Stuttgart Ballet, that her slender,
graceful silhouette caught the eye of Vladimir Malakhov, artistic
director and leading male dancer of the Berlin State Opera Ballet.
He immediately invited her to visit his company and took her on.
Elisa was 19 at the time, but already a professional dancer with
14 years’ experience.
It all began shortly after she turned five and her mother asked
her if she wanted to take classes at a private ballet school in Mexico
City. The minute the teacher saw her take her first steps, she
alerted her parents of their daughter’s talent. Not long afterwards,
when she was at the beginner’s school of the National Institute of
Fine Arts (INBA) –one of the country’s leading art institutions–,
she saw a performance of La Sylphide. This ballet defined the path
her life would take.