Alfredo Corvino
Encyclopedia
Alfredo Corvino was an accomplished dancer who became a highly-regarded master ballet teacher.
Corvino was born in Montevideo
, Uruguay
, and studied violin with his father who was a member of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Montevideo. Corvino studied ballet as a scholarship student of Alberto Poujanne at the National Academy of Ballet (now known as the Uruguay National Ballet School). He became a principal dancer with the Municipal Theater in Uruguay, as well as choreographer and assistant ballet-master.
Corvino first toured Latin America with the Ballets Jooss, directed by the German-born expressionist, Kurt Jooss
. He toured the United States with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
as a soloist, performing Le Spectre de la Rose
, Bluebird from The Sleeping Beauty and Carnaval
. He enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II and later joined the Metropolitan Opera
Ballet in New York
. At the MET, Corvino performed and became ballet master of the ballet company. He was also a dedicated teacher at the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School for 20 years.
Corvino's exceptional training was greatly influenced by Enrico Cecchetti
, the Italian master ballet teacher who worked with the Russian Imperial Ballet and Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes
troupe. Other notable ballet instructors including Anatole Vilzak, Edward Caton, Boris Romanoff, and Alexander Gavrilov contributed to Corvino's training. The Cecchetti training method was passed down to him by the British authority, Margaret Craske. Corvino also studied with Antony Tudor
, a founding choreographer of American Ballet Theater and director of the Metropolitan Opera Ballet and its school in the 1950s. Tudor invited Corvino to join the newly created dance division at The Juilliard School in 1952. Thus began Corvino's association with The Juilliard School, where he was a dedicated teacher for more than 40 years.
Corvino has appeared with numerous dance groups, including the Radio City Music Hall Ballet, Dance Players, Herbert Ross's company, the Gavrilov Company, the Classic Ballet Company of New Jersey and Dance Circle. His international teaching credits include the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen (Germany), Bellas Artes in Caracas
, the Rotterdamse Dansacademie in the Netherlands
, the Theatre Contemporain de la Danse in Paris
, the Cloudgate Theatre in Taiwan
, and the International Festival of Dance Academies in Hong Kong
. As a choreographer, Corvino worked with the Roxy Theater, the Amato Opera, the Princeton Ballet, the Maryland Ballet, and the Dance Circle troupe. He also performed with and for 10 years directed the New Jersey Dance Theater Guild (NJDTE).
On May 23, 2003, The Juilliard School awarded Alfredo Corvino an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree at its 98th commencement ceremonies in recognition of his life-long achievements and contributions to dance instruction, his career as a performer and choreographer, and his dedication and commitment to dance. He was also the recipient of the 2002 Martha Hill
Award for Leadership in Dance and the Juilliard Centennial Medal (May 2005).
Alfredo Corvino was often described as soft-spoken, gentle, precise, generous and elegant. Dancers sought out Corvino as a teacher and coach due to his extensive knowledge, his patience, and his diplomacy. He understood that a classical dancer had to be developed, often stating that a dancer could be born with facility, but that there would be no technique without the proper training. He believed that true dancers possessed an inner fire in addition to a refined technique.
Corvino taught ballet with great respect of human anatomy. He recognized that many dancers became injured because they consistently worked against their own body. He stressed anatomical accuracy, musicality in dance, energy and resistance and the basic principles behind movement. He focused on the anatomy of movement to nurture the dancer's body and prolong the dancer's career.
Corvino died in August 2005. His work in the world of dance is continued by his two daughters - Andra Corvino, a member of The Juilliard School dance faculty and Ernesta Corvino, a ballet coach-teacher, choreographer and director of the Dance Circle troupe. His wife, Marcella Rubin, who was known for her elaborate costume designs, died in 2004.
Corvino was born in Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, and studied violin with his father who was a member of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Montevideo. Corvino studied ballet as a scholarship student of Alberto Poujanne at the National Academy of Ballet (now known as the Uruguay National Ballet School). He became a principal dancer with the Municipal Theater in Uruguay, as well as choreographer and assistant ballet-master.
Corvino first toured Latin America with the Ballets Jooss, directed by the German-born expressionist, Kurt Jooss
Kurt Jooss
Kurt Jooss was a famous ballet dancer and choreographer mixing classical ballet with theatre; he is also widely regarded as the founder of dance theatre or tanztheater...
. He toured the United States with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo was a ballet company created by members of the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo in 1938 after Léonide Massine and René Blum had a falling-out with the co-founder Wassily de Basil...
as a soloist, performing Le Spectre de la Rose
Le Spectre de la Rose
Le Spectre de la Rose is a ballet of the Ballets Russes based on a poem by Théophile Gautier. The music, by Carl Maria von Weber, was his 1819 piano piece Invitation to the Dance, in the 1841 orchestration by Hector Berlioz. Choreography was by Michel Fokine and set and costume design by Léon Bakst...
, Bluebird from The Sleeping Beauty and Carnaval
Carnaval (ballet)
Carnaval is a ballet of the Ballets Russes, based on the music of Robert Schumann's, Carnaval, for piano, as orchestrated by Aleksandr Glazunov, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Anatole Liadov, Alexander Tcherepnin...
. He enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II and later joined the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
Ballet in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. At the MET, Corvino performed and became ballet master of the ballet company. He was also a dedicated teacher at the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School for 20 years.
Corvino's exceptional training was greatly influenced by Enrico Cecchetti
Enrico Cecchetti
Enrico Cecchetti was an Italian ballet dancer, mime, and founder of the Cecchetti method. The son of two dancers from Civitanova Marche, he was born in the costuming room of the Teatro Tordinona in Rome. After an illustrious career as a dancer in Europe, he went to dance for the Imperial Ballet in...
, the Italian master ballet teacher who worked with the Russian Imperial Ballet and Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes
Ballets Russes
The Ballets Russes was an itinerant ballet company from Russia which performed between 1909 and 1929 in many countries. Directed by Sergei Diaghilev, it is regarded as the greatest ballet company of the 20th century. Many of its dancers originated from the Imperial Ballet of Saint Petersburg...
troupe. Other notable ballet instructors including Anatole Vilzak, Edward Caton, Boris Romanoff, and Alexander Gavrilov contributed to Corvino's training. The Cecchetti training method was passed down to him by the British authority, Margaret Craske. Corvino also studied with Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer.-Biography:Tudor, born William Cook, discovered dance accidentally. He began dancing professionally with Marie Rambert in 1928, becoming general assistant for her Ballet Club the next year...
, a founding choreographer of American Ballet Theater and director of the Metropolitan Opera Ballet and its school in the 1950s. Tudor invited Corvino to join the newly created dance division at The Juilliard School in 1952. Thus began Corvino's association with The Juilliard School, where he was a dedicated teacher for more than 40 years.
Corvino has appeared with numerous dance groups, including the Radio City Music Hall Ballet, Dance Players, Herbert Ross's company, the Gavrilov Company, the Classic Ballet Company of New Jersey and Dance Circle. His international teaching credits include the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen (Germany), Bellas Artes in Caracas
Caracas
Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
, the Rotterdamse Dansacademie in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, the Theatre Contemporain de la Danse in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, the Cloudgate Theatre in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, and the International Festival of Dance Academies in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. As a choreographer, Corvino worked with the Roxy Theater, the Amato Opera, the Princeton Ballet, the Maryland Ballet, and the Dance Circle troupe. He also performed with and for 10 years directed the New Jersey Dance Theater Guild (NJDTE).
On May 23, 2003, The Juilliard School awarded Alfredo Corvino an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree at its 98th commencement ceremonies in recognition of his life-long achievements and contributions to dance instruction, his career as a performer and choreographer, and his dedication and commitment to dance. He was also the recipient of the 2002 Martha Hill
Martha Hill
Martha Hill was one of the most influential American dance instructors in history. She was the first Director of Dance at the Juilliard School, and held that position for almost 35 years.-Biography:...
Award for Leadership in Dance and the Juilliard Centennial Medal (May 2005).
Alfredo Corvino was often described as soft-spoken, gentle, precise, generous and elegant. Dancers sought out Corvino as a teacher and coach due to his extensive knowledge, his patience, and his diplomacy. He understood that a classical dancer had to be developed, often stating that a dancer could be born with facility, but that there would be no technique without the proper training. He believed that true dancers possessed an inner fire in addition to a refined technique.
Corvino taught ballet with great respect of human anatomy. He recognized that many dancers became injured because they consistently worked against their own body. He stressed anatomical accuracy, musicality in dance, energy and resistance and the basic principles behind movement. He focused on the anatomy of movement to nurture the dancer's body and prolong the dancer's career.
Corvino died in August 2005. His work in the world of dance is continued by his two daughters - Andra Corvino, a member of The Juilliard School dance faculty and Ernesta Corvino, a ballet coach-teacher, choreographer and director of the Dance Circle troupe. His wife, Marcella Rubin, who was known for her elaborate costume designs, died in 2004.