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October 27, 1999

The figure appears and a roar goes through the audience. He jumps effortlessly across the stage, legs slicing through theair. Cries are heard. Blessed with a perfect ballet physiqueand a handsome face below tight black curls, the stops andexecutes six perfect revolutions. "Oohh!!! Bravo!!!" With every graceful step he takes, the crowd goes wild.

Thank God, Jose Manuel Carreno actually can dance. Overcoming the circus-like hysterics that take place anytime he arrives on stage, Carreno of American Ballet Theatre is our Dancer of the Week.

Born into a family of dancers in Cuba, Carreno studied at the Provincial School of Ballet and the National Ballet School. He won the gold medal at the New York International Ballet Competition in 1987, and the Grand Prix at the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi in 1990.

With his noble bearing, Carreno has danced all the princes and leads in classics such as La Bayadere, the Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, Coppelia, Swan Lake, and Le Corsaire.

But at each stop in his career, he has spread his net wider, taking in Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew, Graduation Ballet and Prince Igor at the English National Ballet, where he spent three seasons.

In 1993, Carreno joined the Royal Ballet and was able to add Frederick Ashton's The Dream and William Forsythe's Herman Schmerman to his role list.

Two year's later a move to ABT brought the opportunity to take in American classics. Carreno is particularly good as the Latin charmer in Fancy Free by Jerome Robbins. Other triumphs included the lead in George Balanchine's essay on the Petipa style, Theme and Variations, and in Stepping Stones by Jiri Kylian.

In addition, Carreno always exhibits an old world courtesy towards his partner, creating a perfect backdrop to show off Susan Jaffe, Alessandra Ferri, Viviana Durante, Nina Ananiashvili, Paloma Herrera or Julie Kent.--Dale Brauner