Cornejo’s Time

Saw Herman Cornejo last night in Don Quixote, at ABT. He and his Kitri, Xiomara Reyes, were celebrating ten years as principals with the company. I was struck by how much he has matured as an all-around stage presence in the last couple of years. Not only does he dance with precision and deep musicality (that’s not new), but he’s able to be fully himself onstage, engaged, warm,  generous. He’s dashing without being flashy, in the fine tradition of Julio Bocca, Ángel Corella, and José Manuel Carreño (though he still lacks their instinctual partnering finesse). He has also refined his physique; despite being quite small, his lines are long. You would never mistake him for a simple “jumper.”

Here’s a video of the Basilio variation from a performance in Argentina last year (unfortunately it doesn’t show him from close-up):

And an interview from Misiones, Argentina, which shows his engaging personality, which shines through onstage:

And here’s an interview with Cornejo I did for DanceTabs .