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Corella to retire as principal dancer with ABT


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A release:

ANGEL CORELLA TO RETIRE AS PRINCIPAL DANCER WITH

AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE

Final Performance Scheduled for Thursday, June 28, 2012

At Metropolitan Opera House

Angel Corella, Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre, has announced he will retire from the Company after the 2012 Metropolitan Opera House season in

New York City. Corella will give his farewell performance in the role of Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake on Thursday, June 28, 2012, dancing opposite Paloma Herrera as Odette/Odile.

Born in Madrid, Angel Corella began his ballet studies in Colmenar Viejo, and later studied in Madrid with Victor Ullate and Karemia Moreno. Corella won First Prize in the National Ballet Competition of Spain in 1991 and the Grand Prix and Gold Medal at the Concours International de Danse de Paris in 1994. He won the Prix Benois de la Danse in 2000 and received the National Award of Spain in 2003.

Corella joined American Ballet Theatre as a Soloist in April 1995 and was promoted to Principal Dancer in August 1996. His repertoire with ABT includes Solor in La Bayadère, the title role in Billy the Kid, the Prince in Ben Stevenson's Cinderella, Franz in Coppélia, Conrad, Ali, the Slave and Birbanto in Le Corsaire, Basilio in

Don Quixote, Henry in Christopher Wheeldon’s VIII, the first and third sailor in

Fancy Free, Colas in La Fille mal gardée, the Peruvian in Gaîté Parisienne, Albrecht in Giselle, Des Grieux in Manon, Danilo and Camille in The Merry Widow, the Nutcracker-Prince and the Cavalier in Kevin McKenzie's The Nutcracker, Lensky in Onegin, Cassio in Othello, the Blue Boy in Les Patineurs, the title role in Petrouchka, The Man from the House Opposite in Pillar of Fire, the Son in Prodigal Son, Jean de

Brienne in Raymonda, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, Prince Désiré in The Sleeping Beauty,

the Rose in Le Spectre de la Rose, Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, the third movement in Symphony in C, James in La Sylphide, Aminta in Sylvia and Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew.

His repertoire with American Ballet Theatre also includes leading roles in Americans We, Ballet Imperial, A Brahms Symphony, Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1, Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes, Études, In the Upper Room, The Leaves Are Fading, Meadow, Mozartiana, Other Dances, Petite Mort, Push Comes to Shove, Sechs Tänze, Sinfonietta, Sinatra Suite, Stepping Stones, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Theme and Variations, Variations on ‘America’, Without Words and workwithinwork. He created leading roles in Baroque Game, The Brahms-Haydn Variations, Clear, Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Orchestra, Gong, Known By Heart and Within You Without You: A Tribute to George Harrison.

Corella’s television appearances include a performance at the 1996 Kennedy Center Honors, an episode of Sesame Street in 1998 and Born to Be Wild, Le Corsaire and

Swan Lake for WNET’s “Dance in America.” In December 1999, Corella danced as a guest artist at the Gala for the opening of the re-furbished Royal Opera House, as well as with The Royal Ballet. He has also performed as a guest artist with The Australian Ballet and at La Scala. In March 2008, Corella made his debut with the Kirov Ballet, dancing Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake opposite Diana Vishneva as Odette/Odile.

Corella is Artistic Director and Principal Dancer of Barcelona Ballet (previously Corella Ballet Castilla y León), a company he founded in 2008.

Single tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s 2012 Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House, are available at the Met box office, by phone at

212-362-6000, or online at ABT’s website www.abt.org. The Metropolitan Opera House is located on Broadway between 64th and 65th streets in New York City.

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the bleeding of the male principals seems unstoppable... ABT should give more chances to their soloists and corp members to develop.

can't believe Angel AND Ethan are both retiring this season...I was hoping that Angel would stick around for at least another year or two...

Either management starts promoting from within or they make some of the guest principals full-time principals. With Carreno gone, Corella and Steifel leaving, Beloserkovsky hardly dancing, and Cornejo oft-injured and/or dancing with Barcelona Ballet, they can't keep asking Gomes, Hallberg and Stearns to shoulder the entire workload.

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With Carreno gone, Corella and Steifel leaving, Beloserkovsky hardly dancing, and Cornejo oft-injured and/or dancing with Barcelona Ballet, they can't keep asking Gomes, Hallberg and Stearns to shoulder the entire workload.

Indeed. What's silly is that this has basically been the case for several years and no one has come up with a real game plan aside from "let's hire random dancers for 5 performances here and there, that's a genius solution!" I just don't understand how management hasn't dealt with this better given the very large lead up time to all of these retirements/exits. It's not like suddenly we found out that Carreno turned 40, or Corella has his own company, or that Stiefel has had way too many injuries to continue, or the Beloserkovsky is almost unusable except to dance with his wife on a few occasions. dunno.gif

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Guest dancers have a good deal with ABT: a spring/summer season of a few months with the option of working in the Fall. ABT gets to generate excitement about various visiting artists. If the supply of interesting guest dancers is continuous, then I'm not sure why ABT would try to change that practice and invest in homegrown talent that doesn't have the star quality of Hallberg or Gomes. They're selling Big Ballets, but not productions, unified style, or choreographers, and they've pretty much squandered the great choreographic legacy they had.

When ABT started, they had a stable of exceptional, experienced dancers; it's hard to say they were homegrown. Baryshnikov tried to sell Harvey, Rizzo, Radojevic (whom I adored), Tcherkassky, LaFosse, etc. and while they all had fans, many people hoped they'd see the next Makarova, Fracci, Bruhn, Baryshnikov, Gregory, etc. and stayed home or begrudgingly buy a ticket to see Cojocaru.

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Indeed. What's silly is that this has basically been the case for several years and no one has come up with a real game plan aside from "let's hire random dancers for 5 performances here and there, that's a genius solution!" I just don't understand how management hasn't dealt with this better given the very large lead up time to all of these retirements/exits. It's not like suddenly we found out that Carreno turned 40, or Corella has his own company, or that Stiefel has had way too many injuries to continue, or the Beloserkovsky is almost unusable except to dance with his wife on a few occasions. dunno.gif

You can't manufacture talent; you can only discover it where it is. Nor can you compel a talented dancer to join your company if s/he feels her/his opportunities are better elsewhere. What you can do, and this is where ABT has fallen short, is nurture the talent you have so that as youngsters mature they fulfill their potential. For a company that depends on marquee names, the only option is borrowing dancers who became stars with the nurturing of other teachers and ballet masters.

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If the supply of interesting guest dancers is continuous, then I'm not sure why ABT would try to change that practice and invest in homegrown talent that doesn't have the star quality of Hallberg or Gomes. They're selling Big Ballets, but not productions, unified style, or choreographers, and they've pretty much squandered the great choreographic legacy they had.

You can't manufacture talent; you can only discover it where it is. Nor can you compel a talented dancer to join your company if s/he feels her/his opportunities are better elsewhere. What you can do, and this is where ABT has fallen short, is nurture the talent you have so that as youngsters mature they fulfill their potential. For a company that depends on marquee names, the only option is borrowing dancers who became stars with the nurturing of other teachers and ballet masters.

And all that's fine provided that one or more of the three male workhorses doesn't go down. (Knock on wood.) If that nightmare scenario should happen, ABT is going to be in a world of hurt -- guest stars or no guest stars.

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knew the day would come...granted we were all hoping it wouldn't

can't believe Angel AND Ethan are both retiring this season...I was hoping that Angel would stick around for at least another year or two...

Did you believe that he would stay or were you just hoping for it? After all the public statements and the history of casting and the new company, I considered him gone, and thought the announcement was just being delayed.

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the bleeding of the male principals seems unstoppable... ABT should give more chances to their soloists and corp members to develop.

can't believe Angel AND Ethan are both retiring this season...I was hoping that Angel would stick around for at least another year or two...

Either management starts promoting from within or they make some of the guest principals full-time principals. With Carreno gone, Corella and Steifel leaving, Beloserkovsky hardly dancing, and Cornejo oft-injured and/or dancing with Barcelona Ballet, they can't keep asking Gomes, Hallberg and Stearns to shoulder the entire workload.

I saw Maxim tonight, with Irina, at Sylvie Guillem's show, and they were so very, very glamorous. Irina looked like a supermodel. She was even prettier in person than in photographs. I kept turning around to look at them.

Fan girl alert: I then saw Misha talking to them, and became startled, and could not catch my breath. I acted like a 12 year old starstruck tourist in the "big city", impressed by the beautiful gowns and famous people.

I also saw Chuck Asgard, whose tuxedo was too big on him, and felt bad that the stress may be causing him to lose weight. Then I stared at Michele Wiles, trying to figure out if she had a hairigami in her hair. I caught sight of Daniil Simkin, who is so tiny, I can't believe he can partner any woman. He was with Isabella Boylston, who looked very chic. Other dancers were there, too, but I do not know their names. And Wendy Perron glared at me (although maybe it was because I was staring at her, too.)

BTW, Sylvie is astonishing. I have never seen anyone move like she does.

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Hey, it seems that we are wandering far afield from our topic. Let's not forget that this thread started with important news about a great ballet dancer, Angel Corella.

I only saw Corella dance on stage a couple of times, in Fancy Free at ABT and Don Quixote (guesting in Madrid), though I've seen more on video. He always struck me as a dancer of unique charm and amazingly fluid technique.

Retirement threads are traditionally the place to talk about a dancer's performances, career, and contributions. A lot of us who are not in the position to follow ABT closely would love to hear what Corella-watcher's think about him and what he has achieved and hopes to achieve in the future.

Ballet Alert's long, on-going discussion of ABT's issues concerning male principals can be found here:

http://balletalert.i...ncipal-problem/

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I thought that his performances were electrifying. In addition to being a superb technician, he developed strong acting ability and stage presence during his career. As a point of comparison, Herman Cornejo is a fantastic technician, but, in my opinion, a poor actor. I'm not sure which role I will remember Angel in as a "signature" role, but Ali in Corsaire is pretty high on the list. I also loved his Romeos with Ferri and Vishneva. In New York, Angel, Jose and Ethan raised the bar so high that we New Yorkers became spoiled in our expectations for grand performances night after night. To the extent that Angel is remembered for his contribution to ballet, I think that will depend on whether Barcelona Ballet flourishes. I hope it does!

I think Simkin's chances for elevation to principal got a little bit stronger today.

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I loved the young Angel -- his effortless technique, his musicality, his raffish charm. But over the years, his performances became less satisfying. I often got the feeling that he wasn't fully present, just doing his schtick to get through the evening. The performances became mechanical. More recently, he's seemed to address my complaints. I'll miss him.tomato.GIF

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knew the day would come...granted we were all hoping it wouldn't

can't believe Angel AND Ethan are both retiring this season...I was hoping that Angel would stick around for at least another year or two...

Did you believe that he would stay or were you just hoping for it? After all the public statements and the history of casting and the new company, I considered him gone, and thought the announcement was just being delayed.

frankly a little of both...I know of Angel's frustrations of being pushed out and not casted, but he's also been a more active part of the company than Ethan. Angel made himself available to dance and has for the most part been ready since he does dance with his own company...and he does tour with ABT unlike Stiefel. So while he was on the way out, I just didn't think it'd be this year (especially since the announcement didn't come until today) And while he hasn't been the most consistent the last few years, from what I've gathered/read Angel has still managed some great performances and was definitely "performance ready" (especially last season), which means that he was still putting in the work and was committed to dancing for the company. but of course, that's JMO

I thought that his performances were electrifying. In addition to being a superb technician, he developed strong acting ability and stage presence during his career. As a point of comparison, Herman Cornejo is a fantastic technician, but, in my opinion, a poor actor. I'm not sure which role I will remember Angel in as a "signature" role, but Ali in Corsaire is pretty high on the list. I also loved his Romeos with Ferri and Vishneva. In New York, Angel, Jose and Ethan raised the bar so high that we New Yorkers became spoiled in our expectations for grand performances night after night. To the extent that Angel is remembered for his contribution to ballet, I think that will depend on whether Barcelona Ballet flourishes. I hope it does!

I think Simkin's chances for elevation to principal got a little bit stronger today.

abatt - you have many valid points here...and while I've never been able to watch Angel live, he's ALWAYS the first male ballet dancer I youtube. personally, I'm a little surprised that Angel was pulled from Corsaire, I mean correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't Ali like Angel's "role" - the one that pretty much launched him into stardom? (you kind of infer that in your comment as well)

Although, with the way SL was selling in comparison, I wouldn't be surprised if the higher ups pushed for the SL farewell to boost tickets sales...

In regards to Simkin...yes, his chances got better but he really is TINY (i thought china doll when I saw him in real-life) - passed him in the audience during ABT"s SL run in Chicago in 2010...and he was my size -- I swear I could have knocked him over (note - i'm 5'3", 115lbs...i was wearing 3" heels that night). so *shrug* I'd love to see Daniil rise up in the company, but at this point his physical limitations are obvious and I think he's aware of them too...that's not to say he hasn't worked hard to overcome them.

random side note/question - what is M. Beloserkovsky dancing in this year...is it just that one Apollo? Does any one have any more information about his absence? is he dealing with injury and how much time is he actually spending with ABT?

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What is very strange here is that Angel is only 36 and still in pretty good physical shape unlike some others like Stiefel and Beloserkovsky. I would suspect that Angel will continue to dance with his own Barcelona Ballet (formerly Corella Co.) just as Bocca danced (tango and modern) with his own company. I personally feel that ABT has lost more than it gained by pushing Angel out.

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What is very strange here is that Angel is only 36 and still in pretty good physical shape unlike some others like Stiefel and Beloserkovsky. I would suspect that Angel will continue to dance with his own Barcelona Ballet (formerly Corella Co.) just as Bocca danced (tango and modern) with his own company. I personally feel that ABT has lost more than it gained by pushing Angel out.

Ahem...you are entirely correct. Angel is only 36 years old and he's not retiring, he simply won't be dancing with ABT anymore. Very sad for us here in NY who love him, but his career will continue and hopefully we will see him here often with Barcelona ballet.

Kevin McKenzie needs to have his head examined!

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What is very strange here is that Angel is only 36 and still in pretty good physical shape unlike some others like Stiefel and Beloserkovsky. I would suspect that Angel will continue to dance with his own Barcelona Ballet (formerly Corella Co.) just as Bocca danced (tango and modern) with his own company. I personally feel that ABT has lost more than it gained by pushing Angel out.

Ahem...you are entirely correct. Angel is only 36 years old and he's not retiring, he simply won't be dancing with ABT anymore. Very sad for us here in NY who love him, but his career will continue and hopefully we will see him here often with Barcelona ballet.

Kevin McKenzie needs to have his head examined!

you are both very correct. At 36, Angel has yet to show his age as a dancer, yes he might not do all of the roles that he's done in the past, but keeping him around for those handful of performances every year was something I expected we'd have for a few more years. Angel LOVES to dance for the NYC audience, and he's done his part to be available to ABT...of course scheduling was an issue at times, but I hate the idea that he might have been pushed out, when he appeared to be willing to put in a few more years even with his commitment to his own company. We know Kevin could use the extra very experienced male principal for a few more seasons as he works to rebuild the roster.

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I guess this might put a premium on the 80hrs of footage I have (and irony of ironies, still not fully edited due to continuing funding issues.) If anyone is interested in contributing towards the completion of my documentary, (and every penny counts now) maybe we'll finally have a broadcast or DVD to view and remind us of his amazing talent as a dancer and entrepreneur in the intervening days/months/years when we can't afford to visit Spain or other closer venues to see him or his company perform.

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Have you considered Kickstarter, 4mrdncr?
Of course, and I may still do it (though I've been warned that:

(a) 90% of your time must be devoted to social networking--something I'm not that fluent with--to get people to the Kickstarter site and/or to donate. So little time is left-over to actually work on the film, and

(b)that self-contributing is not unheard of to reach a goal in the desigated time allowed).

But more importantly, there already was a way to support the film...

Since January 2009, the trailer to the doc has been posted at www.dancemedia.com/v/1528 (run by Macfadden Perf.Arts Media conglomerate which publishes Dance Magazine, Pointe, etc.etc.etc.) with links to the Dance Films Association (my film's fiscal sponsor-- which allows donations to the film to be tax deductible, and allows me to apply for other grants by giving me "nonprofit status" under the DFA.)

The DFA has a page on its website for its 'fiscally sponsored works-in-progress' which DOES have a "Donate" button, http://www.dancefilm...orship-program/ As you can see, this page has a link to the DFA PayPal account which then allows funds to be directed to the appropriate project(s).

Maybe the DFA-sponosored w-i-p page was hard to find on the DFA site, (there is no link on the DFA homepage, it must be reached thru a drop-down menu), or maybe it was just the economy, but there hasn't been much action in the last two years. And yet there is such a clamor for news about Angel and/or his company. It's so puzzling and ironic to me--especially now, when the chance to see Angel dance will be even less after June 28th.

But anyways, thanks for the inquiry.

Edited by 4mrdncr
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I am SO very sad by this news! I first was introduced to Angel as a kid in that ABT gala video. I grew up as a dancer watching him - a highlight of my life was when I got to take a class with him. To me, you just can't get anyone who is as charming on stage than Angel. I'm such a fan I try to catch his shows every season, no matter where I'm living. I was very disappointed when the casting was changed a few years back for his Romeo and Juliet performance, and last year's Coppeila was fairly disappointing just because the male role in that is so small compared to the female role. I'd say my three favorites shows with Angel were in Le Corsaire, Romeo and Juliet, and Swan Lake. I'm glad to at least know we'll actually get to see him dance this time!

I'll be making the trip from DC with some good friends and Angel fans to see his "retirement" show and cheer him on. We'll miss you at ABT, Angel!

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