He holds an MFA from the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre where he studied a range of movement techniques, including commedia dell’arte, Laban, Alexandre, Lecoq-based theatre dynamics, and the Linklater voice method. For his thesis project, Cruz developed a study on the convergence of circus and theater, during which he trained under the tutelage of Master Coach Lu Yi at the San Francisco Circus Center, specializing in the disciplines of aerial straps and acrobatic rope. He was a full-time company member of the Do Jump! Dance Theatre and Imago Theatre, for which he toured nationally and internationally. Currently, he serves as the artistic director Pelú Theatre, dedicated to finding physically engaging ways of telling socially- relevant urban stories, particularly through a Latino lens, through creative uses of commedia, circus, melodrama, and clowning.