He began his ballet training at the Víctor Ullate School before joining the company, where he performed works by Víctor Ullate, Eduardo Lao, Hans van Manen, Maurice Béjart and George Balanchine, among others. In 1995, he was invited by Fernando Bujones to join Ballet Mediterráneo.
He continued his international career as a soloist with Pennsylvania Ballet, performing leading roles in works such as Diana and Actaeon, Coppélia and The Sleeping Beauty. In 1997, he joined American Ballet Theatre and was promoted to soloist the following year. Over seven years, he performed in major productions including La Bayadère, Swan Lake and Le Corsaire.
His stage career culminated as a principal dancer with New York City Ballet from 2003 to 2018. His distinctions include the Gold Medal at the Nureyev Competition in Bucharest (2006), the Benois de la Danse Prize in Moscow (2009), the Community of Madrid Culture Award (2010) and Spain’s National Dance Award from the Ministry of Culture (2016).
He served as Director of the Compañía Nacional de Danza from 2019 to 2024 and is currently Artistic Director of Madrid’s Veranos de la Villa.