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The National Ballet of Peru and Peru’s Ministry of Culture have announced the recent passing of the company’s artistic director, Jimmy Gamonet de los Heros.
Jimmy Gamonet was born in Lima, Peru, where he discovered ballet as a teenager. He was part of the cast of the Peruvian Ballet, the Modern Chamber Ballet, and the Ballet Nacional del Perú under the direction of Vera Stastny.
Jimmy’s career lead him to other countries and to other roles. He held the title of Premier Danseur at the Oklahoma Ballet (Classical Ballet of Oklahoma) located in the United States, Ballet du Nord in France and also at the Miami City Ballet (MCB) where he was the Ballet Master and founding resident choreographer.
At a time where some viewed Miami as a cultural wasteland, MCB exploded on to the scene with a unique artistic challenge that appealed to the varying tastes of South Florida’s burgeoning multi-cultural population while remaining firmly anchored to a neo-classic foundation.
While at MCB, Jimmy choreographed many ballets throughout his 15-year tenure to cheering audiences in South Florida, helping propel the company to international recognition.
In 2004, he founded Ballet Gamonet. As a choreographer, his repertory is comprised of over 50 ballets, which have been presented around the world. They include: Recitations, Fausto, Aria, Reus, Carmen, Partita, Prokofiev Piano Concerto, Nous Sommes, The Big Band Supermegatroid, Purple Bend, Symphonies in D and Midsummer Night Dream, among others.
His creativity has been rewarded over many years at both the national and international level. He received three separate choreography fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, including the prestigious three-year fellowship awarded to artists whose “work on a level of national excellence over time extends the aesthetic boundaries of the discipline.”
Three decades later, in 2015, Jimmy Gamonet returned to Peru as artistic director of El Ballet Nacional del Perú. Since his arrival, the National Ballet of Peru has enjoyed growing audiences, a strengthened repertoire and much recognition in and outside Peru. In 2017, Peru’s Ministry of Culture awarded Gamonet with the Personalidad Meritoria de la Cultura medal.
In lieu of flowers, there has been established the Jimmy Gamonet Student Dance Scholarship Fund at The Miami Foundation. Checks can be made payable to The Miami Foundation c/o Jimmy Gamonet Student Dance Scholarship Fund and mailed to The Miami Foundation, 40 NW Third St., Suite 305, Miami, FL 33128. Credit card donations can be made at give.miamifoundation.org/jimmygamonet.
Jimmy is survived by his life partner of 33 years, Jorge Mursuli.
