Career
In 1996, Abrera joined ABT at the age of seventeen as an apprentice. [2] She was promoted into the Corps de Ballet three months later. She had an affinity for contemporary ballet and received featured roles in the 19th century classics. [7] According to an interview with the LA Times , Paul Taylor's 1978 lyrical Airs is among her favorites which she danced in 1999. [7] Abrera received a positive critical response from The New York Times dance critic Anna Kisselgoff, stating that Abera “gave each shape a gorgeous fullness.” [9]
In 2001, she was promoted to Soloist. [3] Abrera suffered a serious sciatic nerve injury that nearly ended her career in 2008. [10] Over a lengthy two year recovery period, she eventually returned to dancing. [10]
In 2014, Abrera guest starred in Ballet Philippines's Giselle . [11] The following year, she made her ABT debut as Giselle's titular role, replacing an injured Polina Semionova, on the company's alumni night. [12] It is same role she was set to perform prior to her back injury. [7] Of that role, Abrera said, "there was some neat poetic justice for me personally. I really put all of my soul into that one.” [7] Alastair Macaulay, dance critic for The New York Times, remarked that, "the audience greeted her with the warmth usually reserved for the most revered ballerinas." [13] He further noted that "her dancing was luminous, and all of it was stylish and heartfelt; but above all in Act II, where the dead Giselle dances to save her living lover, Albrecht, from death, she made it clear that dance was a spiritual act. Her steps were filled with yearning for him and devotion to dance itself." [13]
She was promoted to principal dancer in August 2015, after 14 years as a soloist, making her the first Filipina-American to reach the rank in ABT's history. [3] This promotion also coincided with Misty Copeland's promotion as the first African American woman promoted to Principal in the company's history. [10] Fellow Principal dancer Daniil Simkin captured the moment and shared the news on social media in June 2015. [10] Though Copeland’s promotion on the same day overshadowed hers, her promotion was praised by Asian-American and Filipino publications around the world and sparked supports among Filipino dancers. [14]
After Abrera became a principal dancer, Irina Kolpakova, a senior member of the ABT artistic staff and former Mariinsky Ballet ballerina, coaches Abrera on her more demanding roles. [7] In 2016, she danced leading roles in Alexei Ratmansky's reconstruction of The Sleeping Beauty , Lise in Frederick Ashton's La Fille Mal Gardée ; the Queen of Shemakhan in Ratmansky's The Golden Cockerel ; Maiden in The Firebird ; and a role she created in his Symphony#9 . [7] On that same year, Abrera celebrated her 20th anniversary with ABT with The Sleeping Beauty. [15]
In 2018, Abrera returned to the Philippines, with a program titled An Intimate Evening with Stella Abrera & American Ballet Stars, with ABT dancers including Gillian Murphy and Isabella Boylston. [11] Abrera also mentors Filipino ballet students. [16] She had also taught master classes throughout the US and abroad, and serves as Guest Ballet Mistress for American Ballet Theatre Studio Company. [17]
In 2019, ABT announced that Abrera will retire from ABT during the Spring 2020 season, dancing Giselle on June 13, 2020 as her farewell performance. [12] A month later, it was announced that she would join Kaatsbaan, a dance cultural park in Tivoli, New York, as its new artistic director, effective January 1, 2020. [18] Due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on performing arts, her farewell performance was cancelled. [19] Her last performance with the company was Giselle in February at the Kennedy Center, Washington DC, with James Whiteside as Albrecht. [1]
In 2020, Abrera participated in Copeland's fundraiser, Swans for Relief, by dancing The Swan , in light of the impacts of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on the dance community. The fund will go to participating dancers' companies and other related relief funds. [20]
In June 2022, ABT announced that Abrera will become the acting artistic director of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. Her position will take effect in August and will last a year. [21] [22]
