Angel Corella facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Angel Corella
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Angel Corella López
Madrid, Spain
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| Occupation | Artistic Director |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Current group | Philadelphia Ballet |
Angel Corella López is a famous Spanish ballet dancer. He was a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, which is a very important position in the ballet world. He also performed as a guest dancer with many other top ballet companies around the world, like The Royal Ballet and New York City Ballet. Since 2014, he has been the Artistic Director of Philadelphia Ballet.
Angel Corella is known as one of the best dancers of his time. He has won many awards, including the Prix Benois de la Danse. He also helped make male ballet more popular in America. The New York Times said he gave "classical dancing... a new image." He has been called a "force of nature" by the Los Angeles Times.
He has performed at the Kennedy Center Honors and is a member of their artistic committee. He has appeared in many DVD recordings for the American Ballet Theatre. His performance as Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake even won an Emmy Award. Angel Corella is the only dancer with a statue in the Madrid Wax Museum. A school and a dance museum are also named after him. He was a judge on the Spanish TV show Mira Quien Baila.
In 2014, the Philadelphia Ballet announced that Angel Corella would become its artistic director.
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Early Career Highlights
Angel Corella was born and grew up in Madrid, Spain. He started dancing at a young age and quickly won awards. He won the First Prize in the National Ballet Competition of Spain in 1991. Three years later, he won the Grand Prix and Gold Medal at a big competition in Paris.
A famous Russian ballerina named Natalia Makarova saw him dance. She told the artistic director of the American Ballet Theatre to audition him. She called him "exceptionally incredible… an angel who has been sent to us." Angel joined the American Ballet Theatre as a soloist in 1995. The next year, in 1996, he became a principal dancer.
Professional Performances
Angel Corella has danced as a guest artist with many famous companies. These include The Royal Ballet in London, the La Scala Ballet in Milan, and the Kirov Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia.
He has performed for many important people around the world. These include Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and United States Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. He has also been a guest at the White House several times.
In 2006, Corella created a touring show called Kings of the Dance. He performed in this show with other leading male dancers. It started in California and later toured to Russia. Angel Corella was the only original dancer to perform it again at the Mariinsky Festival. Other dancers have continued the show since then.
Corella also had his own touring group called Angel Corella and stars of American Ballet. This group performed all over Spain for seven years.
He has worked with many different artists for special performances. These include actress Bette Midler and opera singers Cecilia Bartoli and Ainhoa Arteta.
Angel Corella also danced in opera productions like La Gioconda. He performed at famous opera houses in New York, Barcelona, Madrid, and Rome. In 2013, he made his debut with the Paris Opera.
He has partnered with many well-known ballerinas. Some of them are Alessandra Ferri, Julie Kent, Gillian Murphy, and Diana Vishneva.
Angel Corella likes to support young dancers. He often judges important dance competitions. He also teaches at summer programs and leading dance schools, like the Royal Ballet School in London.
What Critics Said
Throughout his career, Angel Corella earned great respect from dance critics. They admired his amazing technique and artistic talent.
When he first joined American Ballet Theatre, The New York Times praised his performance. They said his dancing "explodes with this young dancer’s phenomenal bravura." As he took on more challenging roles, critics continued to be impressed. After his first time leading La Bayadere, a critic wrote, "Angel Corella was nothing short of perfect."
He was called a virtuoso because of his incredible strength and speed. He was known for "extremely fast pirouettes suddenly speeding up rather than slowing down." Corella was excellent in the most difficult classical ballets. After seeing him in Le Corsaire, The New York Times said, "This performance bought the house down!" The newspaper also praised how versatile he was, saying he performed "magnificently in each part he has been given."
Critics also noted his artistic talent. The New York Times described him as a "highly sophisticated artist." They mentioned his "finely nuanced acting" and said that "the young Spaniard could wow audiences with multiple pirouettes, but it was his joy of dance that carried the day."
It was often said that Corella was "the star - and the heart of the show." He frequently made the audience cheer loudly.
When he retired from the American Ballet Theatre, The New York Times wrote, "Dancers like Angel Corella are hard to come by... He’s generous with his talent too."
Famous Roles
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- Leading roles in other ballets include: Symphony in C, Other Dances, Push Comes to Shove, The Sleeping Beauty Act II, Within You Without You: A Tribute to George Harrison, Variations on America, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Theme and Variations, The Brahms-Haydn Variations, Bruch Violin Concerto, Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes, Ballet Imperial, Sinfonietta, Gong, Who Cares?, Variations For Four, The Leaves Are Fading, Mozartiana, Without Words, A Brahms Symphony, Stepping Stones, Americans We, and Spring and Fall, Concerto no. 1 for Piano & Orchestra, Sinatra Suite, In the Upper Room, and Allegro Brillante.
- Ballets created for Corella by choreographers: For 4 by Christopher Wheeldon, Non Troppo by Mark Morris, The Pied Piper by David Parsons, HereAfter by Natalie Weir & Stanton Welch, Meadow by Lar Lubovitch, Baroque Game by Robert Hill, Concerto No. 1 for Piano and Orchestra by Robert Hill, Known by Heart by Twyla Tharp, Getting Closer by John Neumeier, Sin and Tonic by James Kudelka, and both Clear and We Got it Good by choreographer Stanton Welch.
- Ballets in Opera Productions: Dance of the Hours in Ponchielli's La Gioconda choreographed by George Iancu in Barcelona 2005. Also Christopher Wheeldon's new Dance of the Hours in Ponchielli's La Gioconda for the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, 2006.
Retirement from American Ballet Theatre
When Angel Corella retired from the American Ballet Theatre in 2012, he performed to a sold-out audience. The show was at the Metropolitan Opera House. He received a standing ovation that lasted over twenty minutes. The New Yorker magazine even drew a cartoon of him to celebrate the event. They wrote that people thought of him as "a king of dance."
Television Appearances
- 1996 Kennedy Center Honors
- 1998 Sesame Street
- 1999 "Reopening of the Royal Opera House, London"
- 2001 Charlie Rose
- 2000 PBS documentary Born To Be Wild - The Leading Men of American Ballet Theatre
- 2005 (Emmy Award-winning) PBS presentation of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake
- 2006 Freixenet commercial
- 2008 Rolex commercial
- 2011 "Quien Vive Aqui"
- 2012 "Buena Fuente"
- 2014 "Mira Quien Baila"
DVD Recordings
- Swan Lake with Gillian Murphy (American Ballet Theatre - 2005)
- Romeo and Juliet with Alessandra Ferri (La Scala Ballet - 2000)
- Le Corsaire with Julie Kent/Ethan Stiefel (American Ballet Theatre - 1998 VHS, 2001 DVD)
- Born To Be Wild - The Leading Men of American Ballet Theatre (biographical documentary - 1999)
- Don Quixote Pas de Deux with Paloma Herrera (American Ballet Theatre) on American Ballet Theatre Now - Variety and Virtuosity (1996)
- "Reopening of the Royal Opera House", London (1999)
- "La Gioconda" Liceu Opera House (2005)
Awards and Honors
- National Ballet Competition of Spain - First prize, May 1991
- Concours International de Danse de Paris - Grand Prix / Gold Medal, December 1994
- Prix Benois de la Danse, 2000
- National Award of Spain, 2003
- Premio Protagonista, Luis del Olmo, 2005
- Men's Health award, 2007
- Dance Europe Magazine DANCER OF THE YEAR Award, 2007
- Leonid Massine Award, 2008
- International medal from the community of Madrid, 2008
- International Medal of Arts, Madrid, Spain, 2009
- Gold Medal the academy of fine arts, Cadiz
- Galileo 2000 Award, Florence, 2009
- Sports and Culture award, Barcelona, 2011
Barcelona Ballet
In 2008, Angel Corella started a new classical ballet company in Spain. It was called Corella Ballet, Castilla y Leon. In 2012, the company moved to Barcelona and changed its name to Barcelona Ballet.
The company performed for the first time in Spain in July 2008. They performed a mix of different ballets. Their first full-length ballet was La Bayadère in September 2008.
Barcelona Ballet grew and became very popular in Spain and around the world. They toured many theaters in Spain, including famous ones in Madrid and Barcelona. They also performed internationally in places like New York City, Los Angeles, and Mexico.
Their shows included ballets like Swan Lake, Le Corsaire, and The Sleeping Beauty. They also performed works by famous choreographers like George Balanchine and Christopher Wheeldon.
In early 2013, Angel Corella decided to close the company. He wanted to work on other projects, possibly in the United States.
Angel Corella still performs internationally and works with many artists. In July 2014, he became the Artistic Director of the Philadelphia Ballet.
See also
In Spanish: Ángel Corella para niños
