April 4, 2012
Angel Corella to Retire as
Principal Dancer with ABT
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 Gaƒ´té 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,vthe 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 T√§nze, Sinfonietta, Sinatra Suite, Stepping Stones, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Theme and Variations, Variations on ‚ÄòAmerica’, 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. The Metropolitan Opera House is located on Broadway between 64th and 65th streets in New York City.