Stella Abrera
Stella Abrera | |
---|---|
Born | June 1978 (age 45)[1] |
Occupation | Ballet dancer |
Years active | 1996–2020 |
Spouse | |
Career | |
Former groups | American Ballet Theatre |
Stella Abrera (born 1978 in
Early life and training
The youngest of five children, Stella was born in Manila. Shortly after her birth, her family moved back to the United States. Abrera began dancing at the age of five at a local school in Pasadena, California. Due to her father's job as a civil engineer, her childhood was spent living all over the world in far-flung locations including Australia, her older siblings lived in Jakarta and São Paulo.[7] In Sydney, she trained in the Royal Academy of Dance method at the Halliday Dance Centre. In 1995, she traveled to London to compete at the Royal Academy of Dance’s Adeline Genée Awards, where she was awarded the Gold medal. There she was seen by Ross Stretton who offered her the opportunity to audition for American Ballet Theatre in New York.[8]
Career
In 1996, Abrera joined ABT at the age of seventeen as an apprentice.
In 2001, she was promoted to Soloist.[3] Abrera suffered a serious sciatic nerve injury that nearly ended her career in 2008.[10] Over a lengthy two year recovery period, she eventually returned to dancing.[10]
In 2014, Abrera guest starred in Ballet Philippines's Giselle.[11] The following year, she made her ABT debut as Giselle's titular role, replacing an injured Polina Semionova, on the company's alumni night.[12] It is same role she was set to perform prior to her back injury.[7] Of that role, Abrera said, "there was some neat poetic justice for me personally. I really put all of my soul into that one.”[7] Alastair Macaulay, dance critic for The New York Times, remarked that, "the audience greeted her with the warmth usually reserved for the most revered ballerinas."[13] He further noted that "her dancing was luminous, and all of it was stylish and heartfelt; but above all in Act II, where the dead Giselle dances to save her living lover, Albrecht, from death, she made it clear that dance was a spiritual act. Her steps were filled with yearning for him and devotion to dance itself."[13]
She was promoted to
After Abrera became a principal dancer,
In 2018, Abrera returned to the Philippines, with a program titled An Intimate Evening with Stella Abrera & American Ballet Stars, with ABT dancers including Gillian Murphy and Isabella Boylston.[11] Abrera also mentors Filipino ballet students.[16] She had also taught master classes throughout the US and abroad, and serves as Guest Ballet Mistress for American Ballet Theatre Studio Company.[17]
In 2019, ABT announced that Abrera will retire from ABT during the Spring 2020 season, dancing Giselle on June 13, 2020 as her farewell performance.
In 2020, Abrera participated in Copeland's fundraiser, Swans for Relief, by dancing
In June 2022, ABT announced that Abrera will become the acting artistic director of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. Her position will take effect in August and will last a year.[21][22]
Selected repertoire
Abrera's repertoire with the American Ballet Theatre includes:[17]
- Girl in Afternoon of a Faun
- Terpsichore and Calliope in Apollo
- Gamzatti and a Shade in La Bayadère
- Cinderella and Fairy Godmother in Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella
- Moss and Cinderella in James Kudelka’s Cinderella
- Aurora in Coppélia
- Gulnare and an Odalisque in Le Corsaire
- Mercedes, the Driad Queen and a Flower Girl in Don Quixote
- Lise in La Fille mal gardée
- The Maiden in The Firebird
- Giselle, Myrta and the peasant pas de deux in Giselle
- Pierrette in Harlequinade
- Blanche Ingram in Jane Eyre
- Manon in Lady of the Camellias
- Lescaut’s Mistress in Manon
- Katia in A Month in the Country
- The Sugar Plum Fairy and the Snow Queen in Kevin McKenzie’s The Nutcracker
- Clara the Princess and one of The Nutcracker’s Sisters in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker
- Tatiana in Onegin
- The Ballerina in Petrouchka
- Henrietta in Raymonda
- Juliet, Lady Capulet and a Harlot in Romeo and Juliet
- The Lilac Fairy, the Fairy of Valor and Princess Florine in The Sleeping Beauty
- Princess Aurora, the Lilac Fairy and Princess Florine in Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty
- The pas de trois in Swan Lake
- Bach Partita
- Monotones I
- Les Sylphides
- Symphonic Variations
- Symphony #9
- Symphony in C
Created roles
- His Memory and His Experiences in HereAfter
- The Spanish Dance in Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker
- The Fairy Violente (Temperament) in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Sleeping Beauty
- His Mistress in Weren’t We Fools
- Princess Tea Flower in Whipped Cream
- After You
- Garden Blue
- Pretty Good Year
- Seven Sonatas
Personal life
Abrera married former ABT soloist Sascha Radetsky in 2006.[23]
She studied at Long Island University,[17] and was among the first ABT dancers to participate Harvard Business School's “Crossover into Business” program.[18]
References
- ^ a b c Kourlas, Gia (June 10, 2020). "When the Dancers Have to Miss the Last dance". The New York Times.
- ^ a b Tablang, Kristin (August 8, 2016). "Spotlight on ABT Principal Dancer Stella Abrera". Forbes. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
- ^ a b c Ortile, Matt (October 20, 2015). "Stella Abrera Is Making History - And She's Just Getting Started". BuzzFeed. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
- ^ Guillermo, Emil (August 17, 2015). "Stella Abrera Battles Back From Pain to Ballet's Ultra-Elite". NBC News. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
- ^ Seibert, Brian (June 9, 2022). "Stella Abrera to Run the ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School for a Year". New York Times.
- ^ "Cynthia Harvey to leave the American Ballet Theatre School". Gramilano. February 17, 2022.
- ^ LA Times. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
- ^ Escoda, Carla (September 14, 2014). "Stella Abrera: Ballerina on a Double Mission". Huffington Post. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
- ^ Kisselgoff, Anna (June 10, 1999). "DANCE REVIEW; From Light to Dark, Allusive to Literal". The New York Times. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
- ^ NY Magazine. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
- ^ a b "Stella Abrera Brings ABT Stars to the Philippines This Week". Pointe Magazine. April 5, 2018. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
- ^ a b "Stella Abrera of American Ballet Theater to Retire in Spring". New York Times. October 21, 2019. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
- ^ a b Macaulay, Alastair (May 24, 2015). "Review: American Ballet Theater's 'Giselle' Bounds as Past Giselles Watch". The New York Times. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
- ^ "You've heard of Misty Copeland. Now meet the other ballerina who made history this year". Vox. December 24, 2015. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
- ^ "Casting Announced for Final Two Weeks of ABT's 2016 Spring Season at Metropolitan Opera House". American Ballet Theatre. June 8, 2016. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
- ^ "Meet Two JKO Students from the Philippines Being Mentored by Stella Abrera". Pointe Magazine. April 25, 2019. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Stella Abrera". Kaatsbaan. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
- ^ a b Lansky, Chava (November 19, 2019). "Stella Abrera to Take on New Role as Artistic Director of Kaatsbaan". Pointe Magazine. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
- ^ "Stella Abrera's Final ABT Season Was Cut Short, But She's Looking to the Future". Dance Magazine. May 20, 2020.
- ^ "32 Ballerinas From Around the World Perform "The Dying Swan" for COVID-19 Relief". Dance Magazine. May 6, 2020.
- ^ "Stella Abrera Named Acting Artistic Director of the ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School". BroadwayWorld. June 9, 2022.
- ^ "Stella Abrera to Run the ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School for a Year". New York Times. June 9, 2022.
- ^ "Passionate Partnerships". Dance Magazine. August 3, 2011. Retrieved June 26, 2016.