Named principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre (ABT) in 2003, Herman Cornejo has performed as a guest artist with companies from around the world, including La Scala Ballet, the National Ballet of Japan, the Kremlin Ballet, New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, Hamburg Ballet, the Martha Graham Dance Company, Ballet Hispánico, and Danza Contemporánea de Cuba. His repertoire embraces more than 90 leading roles in classical and contemporary ballet. The New Yorker has called him “the most technically accomplished male ballet dancer in the United States.” His long list of awards includes the Prix Benois de la Danse for Outstanding Male Dancer, the Bessie Award for Outstanding Performer, and the Platinum Konex Award for Best Male Dancer.
A native of Argentina, Cornejo was drawn to ballet after watching his older sister, a former dancer for ABT and Boston Ballet. He is also a choreographer. As a resident fellow at NYU’s Center for Ballet and the Arts for 2021–2022, Cornejo will create a new work that reimagines the great Russian dancer Vaslav Nijinsky — who spent a significant amount of time in Buenos Aires — using Argentine folkloric malambo rhythms.
“Dance is the perfect art form to show the culture of a country and its values,” Cornejo told the Observer, “and it has the capacity to send powerful messages and represent the past, present, and future.” He is the founder and director of Herman Cornejo The State of the Arts, a new organization that “seeks to creatively explore the intersection of dance, theater, visual arts, music, and technology, offering seamless experiences online and offline, onstage and offstage.” Cornejo was appointed a Messenger of Peace by UNESCO in 2005.
Facebook: erman.cornejo
Instagram: @hermancornejo
