Previously, he was a dance critic in Cuba and Chile. His book about the Cuban ballet (under preparation) conceptualizes ballet as a globalized art, and examines the cosmopolitan, nationalist and postcolonial forces that shape cultural production in Cuba. He has contributed chapters to Diálogos con la Danza (2004) and The Cambridge Companion to Ballet (2007), and articles to Dance Chronicle, Dance Research Journal of Korea, Encuentro de la Cultura Cubana, and Dance Magazine. In 2013-14, Lester will be the Peggy Rockefeller research fellow in Latin American Studies at Harvard University