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April 16, 1999If happiness could jump and turn, it would be Angel Corella. Whether gallivanting through Don Quixote, and swashbuckling about in Le Corsaire, Corella exhibits absolute unadulterated pleasure.
Since making his American Ballet Theatre debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1995, the 23-year-old Spaniard's unbridled joy and excellent technique has been sending audiences home with a smile on their face.
Corella began his ballet lessons at Colmenar Viejo and later studied with Victor Ullate and Karemia Moreno in Madrid. After toiling unappreciated in a Spanish company, Corella went about setting himself free. He was a late entry into the Concours International de Danse de Paris, where he left with the Grand Prize and Gold Medal and caught the attention of contest judge Natalia Makarova. The former ABT prima ballerina referred Corella to that company's artistic director Kevin McKenzie, who accepted the teenager into the fold as a soloist in 1995. A little more than a year later he was made a principal dancer.
Although his first roles were the Peasant Pas de Deux (Giselle) and the Bronze Idol (La Bayadere), Corella is more than just his lofty jump and practically endless spins. He is extremely musical, as shown in Theme and Variations and Fancy Free.
Corella is also a sensitive partner. He was originally paired with fellow prodigy Paloma Herrera but he might be better suited to Yan Chan, especially in Romeo and Juliet. His special blend of youthful exuberance and masterful dancing has also attracted choreographers to set works on him. He has been successful in Twyla Tharp works Americans We and last Fall's Known By Heart.
Corella performs Tharp's Push Comes to Shove this summer in New York with ABT as well as in Don Quixote, Variations for Four, the pas de deux from Sleeping Beauty, Gaite Parisienne, Romeo and Juliet, Le Corsaire, Stepping Stones, and the Snow Maiden.
In addition, Corella will make his Royal Ballet debut in London during their 1999-2000 season and dance with the Houston Ballet in June in director Ben Stevenson's Peer Gynt. -- Dale Brauner