Dancer & Composer | instagram.com/gabriel.a.aguilar

I moved to Madison in August 2024 to join the Madison Ballet—my first season dancing professionally, and a moment that still feels surreal. I grew up in a rural town in Cuba, a world away from snow-covered streets and pointe shoes. Wisconsin wasn’t just far from home; it was far from anything I ever imagined. But life has a way of surprising you—especially when you’re open to the unexpected.

Before dance entered my life, music was my first love. I discovered it two years after immigrating to the U.S., when I started learning piano at age 12. That early spark eventually led me to study music composition at New World School of the Arts in Miami. During those college years, I stumbled into dance—which at first, was purely recreational. Then one day, a teacher said something that changed everything: Even though I had started extremely late by ballet standards, she believed I had the potential to dance professionally—if I fully committed. That moment gave me permission to imagine a new version of myself.

That spark—and the grit it takes to chase a dream you found “too late”—has marked me deeply. I’ve come to believe that “too late” is a myth. There’s no wrong time to begin, to pivot, to dream again. There’s only your time.

This season with Madison Ballet has been more than a debut—it’s been an awakening. The rigor, the beauty, the bruises—it’s all taught me how deeply alive the body can feel. Dance isn’t separate from my music—it deepens it. Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to compose an original score for a ballet. That opened a new door: A dream of blending my creative languages into something uniquely my own. I hope to continue exploring that intersection by creating more original music for ballet and dance in the future.

If there’s one thing the journey of my career has taught me so far, it’s to stop pretending I know where I’m going. All I know is, I want to keep saying yes. I want to live a life filled with art, love, and freedom—one that dares to evolve again and again.

Gabriel Aguilar, Dancer & Composer
BJ Daniels, Drag Performer
Brandon LePage, Musician
Han Raschka, Poet
Chuang Wang, Visual Artist

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