Tamara Rojo has announced that Cesar Corrales is to become Principal of English National Ballet from the start of the 2017/2018 season. Joining Corrales on stage after his performance in Le Corsaire at the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Rojo announced his promotion in front of the audience and Company.
Corrales joined English National Ballet as Artist of the Company in 2014, was promoted to Junior Soloist in 2015, and to First Soloist in 2016. At just 20 years old, Corrales will become English National Ballet’s youngest Principal.
During his time at English National Ballet, Corrales has won both the Emerging Dancer and People’s Choice Awards at Emerging Dancer 2016. In 2017 he was awarded Outstanding Male Performance (Classical) for his appearance as Ali in Le Corsaire, at the Critic’s Circle National Dance Awards.
Corrales’ promotion comes following his recent performances this season as Hilarion in Akram Khan’s Giselle, the Prince/Nephew in Nutcracker, Albrecht in Mary Skeaping’s Giselle, Ali in Le Corsaire, Franz in Coppélia, and in William Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated.
From 1 – 5 August 2017, Corrales will be dancing Mercutio in Romeo & Juliet at the Royal Festival Hall in London.
Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano’) about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.
His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia’ column for Dancing Times magazine.
After following delightful performances of César Corrales for several years I was wondering how long will it be before English National Ballet will make him a principal dancer. The news of his promotion make me very happy and will give his admirers tremendous joy. I invited César to perform my choreography for performances of “Dance-Forms’ 74th International Choreographers’ Showcase at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from August 7 through 11, 2017. He told me it will be an honor, but with a very busy schedule, he couldn’t find the time to do it. This became obvious to me after I read about his trips to St. Petersburg, touring the U.K. and most recently Japan. Congratulations to Tamara Rojo for her excellent decision and congratulations to César Corrales on his deserved promotion to principal dancer and for his outstanding work.