Biography
Argentine born Herman Cornejo is one of the most celebrated dancers of our present age. He was admitted to study at Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires at the age of 9. At age 14 he received a scholarship from the School of American Ballet, after which he was summoned by Julio Bocca to join the Ballet Argentino, alternating the major roles of the repertoire with him during the world tour of the company.
At 16 he won the Gold Medal at the VIII International Moscow Competition, being the youngest dancer to get this award in the history of the competition until now. In 1998, at 17, he was invited to join ABT Studio Company. In 1999 he was selected to perform Bronze Idol in Makarova's La Bayadere with the American Ballet Theatre in Japan. He was promoted to soloist in 2000 and to Principal Dancer in 2003. Since then, he has been one of the greatest stars of the company. Critic Joan Acocella called Cornejo in The New Yorker "the most technically accomplished male ballet dancer in the United States." He was also described by critic Claudia La Rocco in The New York Times as "not a fairy-tale prince," but "something more interesting, and more useful, really, for ballet: a believable, 21st-century hero." In addition, the NYT's chief dance critic, Alastair Macaulay, praised his artistic range in 2016: "His jumps' height and his turns' speed matter less than their windblown, tilting ecstasy and shining, boyish fervor. How can this paragon of adolescent lyricism also be the mature prince or witty imp we see in other ballets?"
Considered a prodigy by teachers and critics alike, he has received numerous awards and honors: he was appointed Messenger of Peace by UNESCO; "Dancer of the Year" by The New York Times; Star of the 21st Century in 2005; "Mr. Expressivity" in the International Ballet Festival "Dance Open" in St. Petersburg in both 2010 and 2013; Bessies Award presented by the "NY Dance & Performance League" in New York. In 2014, he was awarded the prestigious Benois de la Danse, which defined him as the best dancer of the year.
In 2012, he began an intense artistic collaboration with the great Italian ballerina Alessandra Ferri, beginning with the production of "Cheri", directed by Martha Clarke. This collaboration has given impulse to various other projects, such as "Trio ConcertDance" and "Evolution".
In 2015, he debuted as artistic director of the "Latin American Stars" Gala, as a part of "BalletNOW", organized by the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.
Throughout his career, Herman has become one of the favorite artists of the most famous international galas. Major companies in the world, including the Ballet Estable of Teatro Colón, Ballet of Teatro Argentino de La Plata, Barcelona Ballet, Contemporary Dance Company of Cuba, Martha Graham Ballet Company, Pennsylvania Ballet, Boston Ballet, New York City Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, Dortmund Ballet, National Ballet of Japan, Universal Ballet of Korea, Scala di Milano, among others, also regularly invite him as Guest Artist.
His repertoire consists of more than ninety roles of classical, modern and contemporary ballets: Basilio (Don Quixote), Albrecht (Giselle), Prince Siegfried (Swan Lake), Romeo (Romeo and Juliet, by Sir Kenneth MacMillan), Solor (La Bayadere), Rose (Spectre de la Rose, by Michel Fokine) among others, and, in the new repertoire, Other Dances (by Jerome Robbins) and 3rd Sailor in Fancy Free (by Jerome Robbins), Suite of Dances (by Jerome Robbins), Ivan (The Firebird by Alexei Ratmansky), Henry (VIII by Christopher Wheeldon), workwithinwork (by William Forsythe), Witness (by Wayne McGregor), I feel the earth move (by Benjamin Millepied), Rabbit and Rogue (Twyla Tharp), Apollo and Rubies (by George Balanchine).
He also works regularly with today's finest choreographers. Mauro Bigonzetti, Jorma Elo, Alexei Ratmansky, Twyla Tharp, Stanton Welch, Martha Clarke, Natalie Weir, Russell Maliphant, Mark Morris, Demis Volpi, Benjamin Millepied, Michelle Dorrance, Fang-Yi Sheu, Paul Taylor, Wayne McGregor and Justin Peck, among others, have created leading roles especially for him.
Cornejo has also choreographed for himself: "Tango y Yo" for Dance Open Festival 2010 in Saint Petersburg, "Two sunsets" for the "Dance against Cancer" event in 2012, "Transcendence" in collaboration with bandoneonist JP Jofre for the Kings of the Dance Tour 2014, "Dentro" and "Momentum" with pianist Bruce Levingston for "Trio ConcertDance, and "Milongón" in 2016, in honor of Demian Woetzel's first decade as director of the Vail International Dance Festival.
