Elena Gutiérrez

Elena Gutiérrez Nascimento (born 1944) is a Costa Rican-Chilean ballet dancer, choreographer and founder of Costa Rica's National Dance Company . Gutiérrez was the founder and the first director of the School of Dance at the National University of Costa Rica.

Early life and education Gutiérrez was born in 1944 to Joaquín Gutiérrez, a Costa Rican writer, and Elena Nascimento, a Chilean. Gutiérrez later studied at the Beijing Dance School and the Bolshoi Theatre before earning a MA from the Choreography Faculty of the Lunacharsky State Institute for Theatre Arts.

In 1974, Gutiérrez founded and became the first director of the School of Dance at the National University of Costa Rica.