Masterclass with Norbert De La Cruz III

Norbert De La Cruz III

Born in Bayombong Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines and raised in Los Angeles, CA Norbert De La Cruz III is recognized for his versatility in performance and choreography. He is a performing and collaborative artist with roots in classical and contemporary dance. After moving to New York, he received a BFA in Dance from the Juilliard School followed by an MFA in Dance from Hollins University. He is a New York and Los Angeles based freelance dance artist.

Professionally, Norbert has performed as a soloist with the Metropolitan Opera’s production of Aida, Aszure Barton & Artists in Germany & Austria (Blue Soup & Busk), Balletto Teatro di Torino (Italy), Joe Goode Performance Group, Sydney Skybetter & Associates, Santa Clarita Ballet, Lustig Dance Theatre, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and Boca Tuya with Omar Román De Jesús. As a pre-professional, he was honored the Music Center’s 17th annual Spotlight Award, the Emerging Young Artist Award, Youth America Grand Prix 2nd place in non-classical, and represented the Juilliard School at Kodak Theatre’s first annual Dizzy Feet Foundation Gala in Hollywood, CA. Norbert recently been casted in Warner Brothers Pictures film adaptation of Tony-winning musical In The Heights.

Norbert’s choreographic career was further mentored by esteemed Aspen Santa Fe Ballet (ASFB) Directors, Tom Mossbrucker and Jean-Philippe Malaty. His early career was recognized through the support of the Jerome Robbins Foundation’s NEW Essential Works Grant (2012), commissioning his first large-scale ballet, “Square None” (2012) with ASFB. He was then a finalist of Hubbard Street’s National Choreographic Competition (2013), a Princess Grace Foundation-USA Award under the choreography fellowship (2012), Alvin Ailey New Directions Choreography Lab (2013), finalist for the Joffrey Academy of Dance’s 2014 Winning Works and a recipient for the 2015 National Choreographic Initiative in Irvine, CA. He was selected for the 2017 and 2018 Spring Sessions at the New York Choreographic Institute, an affiliate of New York City Ballet, where he created his “Lunar” and “Traces” ballet alongside Juilliard composer and esteemed collaborator, Nathan Prillaman. Additional honorable mentions include the Asian Arts Alliance Jadin Wong Award, McCallum Theatre Choreography Festival Award, and was featured in Dance Magazines Top 25 to watch.

He has since been commissioned to create and premier new works for companies such as Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Hubbard Street 2, Joffrey Academy of Dance, James Sewell Ballet, Tulsa Ballet II, Barak Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet, Ballet Florida, Peridance, Golden State Ballet, Attack Theatre, Ballet X, Olympic Ballet Theatre, and Periapsis Music & Dance.