Two years into architecture school in his native Monterrey, Mexico Luis Martínez transferred to the Superior School of Music and Dance of Monterrey to pursue his true love, ballet. He studied with Roberto Machado and Rosario Murillo. At the Cordoba Dance Festival, Luis studied under Vladimir Malakhov, Adria Velasquez, Tadeusz Matacz, and Claudio Muñoz. He also completed the Character Dances Intensive with Rafael Ibatullin and Horton Technique Intensive with Victor Talledos.
Upon graduating in 2010, Luis joined Ballet de Monterrey (BdM) under the direction of Luis Serrano. He has danced Giselle, Don Quixote, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Coppelia, La Bayadere, and Graduation Ball. He also performed in major productions such as Luis Serrano’s Celebration, Sinergia, Cantus, Jorge Amarante’s Uma Batida Diferente, Zendas, and Clark Tippet’s Brunch Violin Concerto. In 2014, with Amarante at the helm of BdM, Luis performed in Raymonda, Romeo and Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty, Amarante’s México en el Ombligo de la Luna, Carmen and Cinderella, where he played one of the stepsisters in pointe shoes. He was also chosen by Patrick Delcroix as the first cast in Mexico of Jirí Kylián’s Sechs Tanze. In 2016, under BdM’s new director Jose Manuel Carreño, Luis played Dr. Coppelius and Franz’s friends in Coppelia. In 2017, he danced in Alberto Mendez’s The Phantom of the Opera and also Luis Serrano’s Huapango. Luis was coached by renowned Ballet Masters and Mistresses Ileana Lopez, Phillip Balmain Beamish, Galina Alvarez, Analia Sosa Guerrero, Lazaro Carreño, and many more.
Drawing inspiration from his own teachers, Luis has worked as a ballet instructor while at BdM, and after eight seasons at BdM, Luis started a teaching career in earnest. In 2017, Luis and Serafín Castro founded and directed SL-Dancenter in Mexico. In 2019, Luis moved to Phoenix Metro Area, where he’s now a sought-after instructor and choreographer. In 2020, he choreographed and danced a duet with Serafín Castro with the Downtown Chamber Series. In 2021, he won the Outstanding Teacher Award at YAGP. With Luis as coach and choreographer, three of his students made the final round at the YAGP Finals in Tampa, Florida. In 2022, Luis performed in Lauren Flower’s Fragments, a dance film commissioned by Phoenix Art Museum.
Luis started teaching Ballet Arizona students in the 2022 Summer Intensive. He seeks to instill in his students the importance of both technique and expressiveness to convey the feelings and emotions of dance.
Luis has guest taught for Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Ballet22, Convergence, and Ballet Arizona, and he’s the current director of the Ballet Program for The Collective PHX. In Luis’ first year as director, his students have achieved remarkable success: many have placed at the Youth America Grand Prix, and several secured invitations to the finals. Under Luis’ guidance, students have earned prestigious acceptances and scholarships, including acceptance to the Royal Ballet, Alvin Ailey, Princess Grace, and full scholarships to the School of American Ballet, a testament to the caliber of instruction and mentorship they receive.
