Paloma Herrera (born 21 December 1975) is a prominent Argentine

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

dancer, choreographer, and artistic director who was a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre, where she worked for twenty-four years. She was the director of Colon Theater Ballet from 2017 until 2022. Herrera was born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, and began studying

there at the age of seven with teacher Olga Ferri. She quickly became a noted prodigy in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

, winning many competitions throughout and was able to continue her training at the Minsk Ballet School in the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (now

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

); returning to Buenos Aires, she was cast as Cupid in a performance of ''

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of West ...

'' at the

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón (Spanish: ''Columbus Theatre'') is the main opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acousti ...

. With her reputation growing, Herrera was invited by

Natalia Makarova Natalia Romanovna Makarova (russian: Ната́лия Рома́новна Мака́рова, born 21 November 1940) is a Russian prima ballerina and choreographer. ''The History of Dance'', published in 1981, notes that "her performances set ...

to study with her at the English National Ballet in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Soon afterwards, she studied at the School of American Ballet in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, where she made such an impression that she was selected to dance the lead role in '' Raymonda'' in the school's annual workshop performance. She officially became a member of the American Ballet Theatre's

corps de ballet In ballet, the ''corps de ballet'' (; French for "body of the ballet") is the group of dancers who are not principal dancers or soloists. They are a permanent part of the ballet company and often work as a backdrop for the principal dancers. ...

in 1991; by 1993, she was promoted to soloist, and by 1995 she became a

principal dancer A principal dancer (often shortened to principal) is a dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company. A principal may be male or female. The position is similar to that of '' soloist''; however, p ...

. Herrera was honored by the American Immigration Law Foundation in 2001 for her contributions as a member of New York's immigrant population. In addition to being a respected ballerina, she is a common presence in the New York social scene. Herrera retired from professional ballet as a dancer in 2015. ABT's 2015 Spring Season was her final one with the company. Principal dancers Julie Kent and

Xiomara Reyes Xiomara Reyes (born October 28, 1973, in Havana, Cuba) is a former principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. After retiring from performing she was appointed the Head of School of The Washington Ballet School. Training and Career Born in Cu ...

retired at the same time. On 8 August 2017, she was appointed director of the Colon Theater Ballet, a position in which she replaced Maximiliano Guerra, who was removed from office after a public confrontation with the dance corps. The inauguration took place in a ceremony in the Theatre itself directed by the city's mayor,

Horacio Rodríguez Larreta Horacio Rodríguez Larreta (born 29 October 1965) is an Argentine economist, politician and the current Chief of Government of the City of Buenos Aires. Larreta was re-elected in 2019 with almost 56% of the votes, becoming the first candidate ...

. She resigned from the position in 2022 due to confrontation with dance corps and lack of support from the city authorities.

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herrera, Paloma Argentine ballerinas Prima ballerinas 1975 births Living people People from Buenos Aires American Ballet Theatre principal dancers English National Ballet School of American Ballet alumni