Cristina Casas Palmer
_____________________ A native of El Paso, Texas, Cristina Casas Palmer grew up in a large family in a home that was always filled with music. Born disciplined, she became a serious student of ballet at the age of five. Several recitals later, her parents enrolled her in a new studio run by a German ballet instructor who, in a few short years, had gained notoriety for her strict standards and lavish productions. That instructor, Ingeborg Heuser, had taken El Paso by storm, and even her young...See more
_____________________ A native of El Paso, Texas, Cristina Casas Palmer grew up in a large family in a home that was always filled with music. Born disciplined, she became a serious student of ballet at the age of five. Several recitals later, her parents enrolled her in a new studio run by a German ballet instructor who, in a few short years, had gained notoriety for her strict standards and lavish productions. That instructor, Ingeborg Heuser, had taken El Paso by storm, and even her young students were exposed to the time-honored traditions of ballet training that she had been accustomed to in Berlin-classes with live accompaniment, productions with full orchestra, original sets and costumes, famous guest dancers and choreographers, etc. From that point on, Cristina became part of a larger family, and her second home resounded with the music of the world's most revered composers. She performed as a member of Heuser's ballet company in the early to mid-1970s-a time which, for her, was the "golden age" of ballet in El Paso (although other generations of local dancers may beg to differ: -). While she went on to pursue a career, first as a teacher, then as a psychologist, Dr. Palmer continued to indulge her passion for ballet wherever her academic studies and professional positions took her. It was not until she returned home as an older adult and reestablished her relationship with Heuser that she realized the immense significance of what El Paso had experienced for half a century. By the time she retired from her 32-year-long career in 2006, that realization had become an inspired pursuit to tell the extraordinary story of ballet in El Paso. Hence, the book For Love of Dance-The Early Years of the UTEP Ballet. ____________________ See less