Dancing through life: Schaumburg couple who performed around the world now teach in their adopted home

Victor Alexander discovered his life’s work on a whim.

He was 11, living Guane, a town in Cuba’s Pinar del Rio province, when a representative from the Ministry of Culture came to his school to invite students to audition for a chance to study dance at the Escuela Nacional de Arte in Havana.

Alexander raised his hand, partly to have a day off from school and partly because he knew the town where he grew up was too small for him.

“I knew I wanted to be somewhere else,” said Alexander, who resides in Schaumburg with wife and fellow dancer Maray Gutierrez.

Since 2013, he has served as director of Chicago’s Ruth Page School of Dance, which celebrates the legacy of the famed 20th-century ballerina/choreographer during Center Stage at Ruth Page performances Friday and Saturday, March 21-22, showcasing resident ensembles Congo Square Theatre Company, DanceWorks Chicago, Giordano Dance Chicago, Hedwig Dances, Porchlight Music Theatre and others, along with guest companies including Ayodele Drum & Dance, Ballet 5:8, Visceral Dance Chicago and more.

Initially, Alexander’s career prospects seemed dim. The youngster was cut after the first round of auditions for Escuela Nacional de Arte. But a teacher named Isabel La Barca sought him out after the audition and asked him to return for the second round.

Accepted into the program, Alexander discovered a passion for dance and spent the next six years balancing training, academics and his budding friendship (and subsequent romance) with fellow student Gutierrez.

Invited to join the Danza Contemporánea de Cuba, Alexander and Gutierrez spent 10 years performing all over the world and participating in festivals. Among them was 2002’s American Dance Festival showcasing contemporary dance. After it concluded, they took a break to visit Gutierrez’s family, who had emigrated to the Chicago area decades earlier.

The couple decided to relocate as well and began performing with Hedwig Dances (where Gutierrez was an artistic associate for 14 years), Luna Negra Dance Theater, Concert Dance Inc. and Lyric Opera of Chicago, among others. Alexander also performed with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and the Houston Grand Opera.

Both were familiar with the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, whose namesake co-founded the school in 1971 with Larry Long, former co-artistic director of the Civic Ballet of Chicago. Long ran the school until his death in 2009. At which point his widow, Dolores Long, asked Alexander to take over. They were big shoes to fill, recalled Alexander.

“I told her I wasn’t ready, that I was still in my prime as a dancer,” he said.

A few years later, when school officials approached him again, he accepted the offer with his wife’s blessing.

“Maray said, ‘We’re going to be dancers forever, but we’re not going to be active dancers forever,’” he recalled.

Gutierrez explains, “We have a dancer inside of us and as long as we are able to pass along the knowledge and wisdom we’ve learned throughout our career, we’ll keep evolving.”

“It’s a place filled with beautiful energy,” said Alexander, who took over the school and the professional training program in 2013. “I feel blessed and privileged every day of my life.”

One of his initiatives involves training partnerships with dance schools in Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Italy, Cuba, Israel and elsewhere so students “have an opportunity to understand dance from a different perspective, from different cultures.”

“Dance teaches you discipline, consistency. It teaches you to be focused, to understand deadlines. It teaches you how to treat people. Those are things we need in life,” said Alexander, who works alongside artistic associates including Gutierrez to train the next generation of dancers.

“Working with dancers is something that really inspires me,” she said. “My role is to nurture this generation of dancers, allowing them to refine their technique and grow as individuals.”

Gutierrez encourages them to take every opportunity that presents itself.

“No matter how small or big,” she said, “take that opportunity, embrace it and become stronger.”

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Center Stage at Ruth Page

When: 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 21-22

Where: Ruth Page Center for the Arts Theater, 1016 N. Dearborn St., Chicago, (312) 337-6543, ruthpage.org

Tickets: $20; $40 for both performances