I was amazed by the opportunity to be onstage at such a young age and to watch him every day. I learned so much from him. He began performing featured roles almost immediately, and was promoted to soloist in , then principal in But we put in the amount of time, and our resources, to make it work.
I could not be prouder of him. He always had an incredible technique. But he has become this wonderful, mature artist.
Cornejo joined ABT when a particularly impressive roster of male talent had emerged during the s. Thanks to him, Marcelo Gomes, David Hallberg and others, the company has continued to showcase exemplary male talent. McKenzie is his primary coach for his expanding repertory. I work with him on almost every ballet. He has worked often with the choreographer, who most recently created a powerful, nuanced role for Cornejo in his Shostakovich trilogy.
With his expanding repertory of both classics and contemporary works, Cornejo has elegantly and boldly left expectations behind. Twyla has an amazing eye and view for that. It lets you reach deep inside yourself. DD: What are some of the challenges of Twyla Tharp's movement?
It's one of those pieces you have to think ahead. You can't be late in the music, you have to really focus on what's next because of the speed of the movement. It's very exciting because the audience can see how hard this piece is. It's nice to be doing something hard and the audience understands that. In that time in South America, we didn't have the Internet, so the information was limited. So I learned about it through Julio and it became my dream company. Just to be able to join them when I was 17 years old — it was magical.
I never want to leave that dream. DD: What has been the hardest part about your time with the company? Herman: Of course, in 20 years, you have ups and downs and there are moments that you are pushing and you don't know if it's going to happen. But I look back and realize it happened really, really fast.
It happened fast because I pushed and I was ready to do the things. When I was a soloist, I was scared to get stuck in those roles and it took a lot for me to prove to [ABT artistic director] Kevin [MacKenzie] with my height because he saw me as a short dancer.
I showed him I could do the lead roles and lead the company around the world, but I am fortunate that Kevin saw that and he gave me the opportunity to do it. DD: What advice would you give to young dancers who are being told that their height is an issue?
Herman: Height is not an issue and I think it happened to me because Kevin is a tall man and was a tall dancer. His inclination may be to like tall dancers, but if look at Baryshnikov or Fernando Bujones, both short dancers and some of the best dancers in the world. In my time with Kevin, I had to push for that and fight for my opportunities.
I did it in a respectful way. I never told Kevin he was right or wrong. Every knock he had on his door was asking him to consider me. I always took the criticism in a good way and it might not even be my height.
It might be having the right partner. And the guest dancers that I've had in the last 20 years like Alina Cojocaru, Alessandra Ferri, Natalia Osipova and Evgenia Obraztsova have been amazing for my career and my life. In , he was awarded the prestigious Benois de la Danse, which defined him as the best dancer of the year. In , 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". Throughout his career, Herman has become one of the favorite artists of the most famous international galas. He also works regularly with today's finest choreographers. Sign In.
0コメント