Raul Peinado

Raul was born and raised in Madrid, Spain. There, he began his dance training on full scholarship with ballet master Victor Ullate of the Victor Ullate Ballet School and Cristina Alvarez at Catedra Alicia Alonso. While in Spain, Raul danced as a soloist with Ballet Clasico de Madrid for 3 years, where he performed mostly classical ballet repertoire. He also performed as a guest dancer with the National Ballet of Cuba in Don Quixote and Swan Lake. In 2000, Raul came to the United States and was offered a full scholarship at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York. He then joined the Joffrey Ballet Ensemble, where he danced for 5 years. While in New York, he has been a company member of Rebecca Kelly Ballet, Dances Patrelle, Peridance Ensemble, Configuration Dance, and Faune Dance Troupe.

In 2006, he joined the Connecticut Ballet and performed as a principal dancer there for 3 seasons. Raul performed in the 2008 Buffalo Dance Festival with partner and renowned ballerina Misty Copeland in a duet choreographed by American Ballet Theatre’s Susan Jaffe. Mr. Peinado was a guest dancer for two years at the Fukuoka International Dance Festival in Fukuoka, Japan, and was awarded the City Honors Award for outstanding performance by the city’s mayor. Mr. Peinado guests for many regional ballet companies in the United States, including Ruth Mitchell Dance Theatre, Gwinnett Ballet Theater, Alabama Dance Theater, North Atlanta Dance Theater, Atlanta Dance Theater, Andalusia Ballet, South West Virginia Ballet, Mobile Ballet, and Eglevsky Ballet. Mr. Peinado also danced for three seasons with the Georgia Ballet, where he was selected to perform leading roles in George Balanchine’s Dance Fantasy, Apollo and Serenade.