Inducted in 2022
Dancer; Choreographer
Director, Ballet Hispánico, New York, NY
Founder, Luna Negra Dance Theater, Chicago, IL
Advisor, National Endowment for the Arts & NYS Council on the Arts

Since Fordham’s very first commencement in 1846, Prep graduates have been distinguishing themselves in nearly every field of human endeavor.  The Long Maroon Line boasts scientists and civil servants, clergy and craftsmen, and administrators and advisors of every description — decade after decade after decade. Moreover, among the thousands of alumni on our venerable rosters, there are also individuals who would go on to devote their lives to the preservation and transmission of culture — a most noble and laudable undertaking in any era.

On the Fordham Prep Hall of Honor, for instance, one can find loyal sons and true like Albert Kirchner, Class of 1926, or John “Jack” Foley, Class of 1963, who spent years studying and teaching Latin and Greek to generations of Prep students. Celebrated 19th-century artist, John LaFarge, Class of 1852, used paint and stained glass as his media. William Reidy and Joseph Bastianich, Classes of 1959 and 1985, have reminded us of the cultural importance of food and drink. And while Firefighter Sean Tallon, Class of 1992, will always be remembered for the great sacrifice he made on September 11, 2001, when honoring his life, one should also never forget that he was also an accomplished accordionist with a passion for traditional Irish music — music, too, can ensure legacy and heritage.

In inducting Eduardo Vilaro to the Hall of Honor, Fordham Prep not only celebrates the extraordinary accomplishments of the man himself, a proud member of the Class of 1982, but also affirms the power of dance as a means of carrying culture across generations, across borders, and even across continents.

Eduardo Rufino Vilaro was born in Havana, Cuba in 1964. His father, Pascual Vilaro, was an engineer, and his mother, Georgina Fernández, was a cosmetologist.  In 1968, Vilaro fled to the United States with his family seeking political asylum and to escape the turmoil of their homeland. They arrived in Miami, but soon moved to the Bronx, where Eduardo would grow up with his two brothers, Jorge and Enrique, while his parents strove to rebuild their lives in their new country.  Certainly, his parents’ struggles and his own immigrant experiences would very much shape Vilaro’s outlook on the world as well as his willingness to work hard to attain his goals.

Young Eddie attended St. Margaret Mary on East 177th Street before heading up Webster Avenue towards Fordham Road to begin his Rose Hill career in the fall of 1978.  While dance — Latin and Caribbean dance in particular (as well as the breakdancing born on the streets of the Bronx — had always been an integral part of Vilaro’s home life, it was actually in grammar school that he began to get a sense of his future calling when he played Linus in a production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, a role that involved a choreographed scene with the character and his iconic blue blanket. As Vilaro himself has noted, “It really was a moment I realized that this is a way I could connect to this new place I was in.” Ed has gone on to remark:

“That is the power of the arts — and why I am such a proponent of arts education.”

Eduardo looks back on his Prep years with great fondness and also with great appreciation. “For a kid who was an immigrant growing up in the Bronx,” he has remarked, “what it opened up for me was a huge expansive world.”  Among his most influential teachers: Mrs. Wanda Piñeiro, today a fellow Hall of Honor inductee.  But beyond his classes — Eduardo has reflected on his English literature and Latin classes as particularly formative — it was also at the Prep that he had his first experience of performing at a decidedly public venue in front of a very large audience.  A member of the Choir under the direction of Mr. J. K. Johnson, Eddie travelled to Florida where he and the rest of the Prep vocalists preformed at Epcot Center for a choir competition. It was an exhilarating moment for Vilaro up on that stage: seeds were planted, indeed.

Graduating the Prep in 1982, Vilaro attended Adelphi University, majoring in dance and earning a BFA in 1985.  Later on, he would continue his studies at Columbia College in Chicago, completing his MFA in 1998.  Along the way, he also trained with the Martha Graham Contemporary Dance School and the Ailey School, an affiliate of the world-renown Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Manhattan.

In addition, in 1986, Vilaro would become associated with the Ballet Hispánico, an institution that had been founded in 1970 and would grow to be the largest Latin American cultural organization in the United States and a major advocacy group. Straightaway, Eduardo would find himself one of the troupe’s principal dancers, and then, soon enough, an instructor and choreographer. He would spend a decade with the Ballet before moving on in the late 1990s, although his ties to the company would endure, and he would be named the Ballet Hispánico’s director in 2009 and CEO in 2015.  At the time of his 2022 induction to the Prep’s Hall of Honor, Vilaro would be known internationally for his vibrant work as the artistic and administrative leader of the institution and the caretaker of its esteemed and enduring legacy as a vehicle for cultural exchange.

In 1999, Vilaro founded the Chicago-based Luna Negra Dance Theater, an ensemble that would tour the world sharing the richness of the spectrum of Latin cultures. During his stint at Luna Negra, Eduardo would choreograph over a score of works capturing the spirit of the Hispanic experience. Included among his notable compositions are the 1999 Amor y Dolor, 2002’s Vuela del Alma, and 2006’s Mi Corazón Negro.

For decades, most especially since the start of his tenure at the helm of the Ballet Hispánico, the boy from the Southwest Bronx has become a powerful national voice championing the value of arts education and advocating for Latin representation in all aspects of the American art world. He has served on the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts and has sat on the boards of various dance in New York City and beyond. Throughout his career, Vilaro has received numerous awards including the Ruth Page Award for Choreography in 2001, and honors at Panama’s International Festival of Ballet in 2003.  He was inducted proudly into the Bronx Walk of Fame in 2016.

Vilaro has explained that his philosophy of dance “stems from a basic belief in the power of the arts to change lives, reflect and impact culture, and strengthen community” and that he considers dance to be “a liberating, non-verbal language through which students, dancers, and audiences of all walks of life and diverse backgrounds can initiate ongoing conversations about the arts, expression, identity, and the meaning of community.” When Eduardo reflects upon his commitment to education and inclusion for all and his passion for reaching others on a spiritual and emotional level, Fordham Prep is proud to know that he can trace at least some of his influences back to the high school where he spent four years back in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s.

Eduardo Vilaro is the father of Maximiliano and shares his life with David Norfleet, a sound engineer, app developer, and fitness instructor. They live in Irvington, New York.