Royes Emanuel Fernandez (July 15, 1929March 3, 1980) was an American ballet dancer who was a soloist then principal dancer for the

American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant. Through 2019, it had an annual eight-week season at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center) in the spr ...

(ABT).

Biography

Royes Emanuel Fernandez was born on July 15, 1929 in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, Louisiana, to his father, Manuel Paul Fernandez, a jeweler, and Francoise Blanchine. He had an older sister, Jeanne. He was of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

descent. He began dancing at age of eight with Lelia Haller in New Orleans. He debuted performance with the New Orleans Opera Ballet in 1944. During mid-1945, he was studying at the

School of American Ballet The School of American Ballet (SAB) is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the age of six, with professional voc ...

in New York City. After graduating from high school in June 1946, Fernandez moved to New York City, and there he studied with Vincenzo Celli, joining

Wassily de Basil Vassily Grigorievich Voskresensky (; 27 July 1951), usually referred to as Colonel Wassily de Basil, was a Russian ballet impresario. De Basil was born in Kaunas, Russian Empire (now in Lithuania), in 1888 (his year of birth is given alternately ...

Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo The company Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo (with a plural name) was formed in 1932 after the death of Sergei Diaghilev and the demise of Ballets Russes. Its director was Wassily de Basil (usually referred to as Colonel W. de Basil), and its ...

in September of that year. The following year, he joined the Markova-Dolin Ballet as a soloist. His primary affiliation from 1950 to 1973 was American Ballet Theatre, first as a soloist and then as a principal dancer from 1957 onward. However, Fernandez continued to perform with other companies as a guest artist or as a member for brief periods of time. These companies participated at the Ballet Alicia Alonso (now

Cuban National Ballet The Cuban National Ballet () is a classical ballet company based at Great Theatre of Havana in Havana, Cuba, founded by the Cuban prima ballerina assoluta, Alicia Alonso in 1948. The official school of the company is the Cuban National Ballet ...

Borovansky Ballet The Australian Ballet (TAB) is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur and ...

London Festival Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Alicia Markova, Dame Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin (ballet dancer), Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham ...

San Francisco Ballet San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Fra ...

, a 1963 world tour with

Margot Fonteyn Dame Margaret Evelyn de Arias Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, DBE ( Hookham; 18 May 191921 February 1991), known by the stage name Margot Fonteyn (), was an English ballerina. She spent her entire career as a dancer with th ...

(as her partner), and the

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...

from 1959 to 1960. Fernandez was considered by many the greatest American ''

danseur noble A ''danseur noble'' traditionally was a male ballet dancer who projected great nobility of character. Over the last century, the term has been used to define a male principal dancer who performs at the highest theatrical level combining grace with ...

'' to date. He was particularly noted for the male principal roles in ''

Giselle ''Giselle'' ( , ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (; ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet () in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, it was first perfor ...

'', ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...

'', and ''

La Sylphide ''La Sylphide'' (; ) is a romantic ballet in two acts. There were two versions of the ballet; the original choreographed by Filippo Taglioni in 1832, and a second version choreographed by August Bournonville in 1836. Bournonville's is the only ve ...

'', but danced contemporary works as well. He partnered with the foremost ballerinas of his time including Fonteyn,

Lupe Serrano Guadalupe Martínez Desfassiaux Serrano (December 7, 1930 – January 16, 2023), known professionally as Lupe Serrano, was a Chilean-born, Mexican-trained American ballet dancer and teacher. She spent most of her dance career at the American Ba ...

, and

Toni Lander Toni Lander née Pihl Petersen (1931–1985) was a Danish ballerina who specialized in the ballets of August Bournonville. After becoming a solo dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet in 1950, she was a guest dancer with the Original Ballet Russe in ...

. Fernandez was active as a teacher and guest performer with both major and small companies throughout the United States, eventually leaving active performing to join the faculty first of the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

in 1973 and then the

State University of New York at Purchase The State University of New York at Purchase, commonly referred to as Purchase College or SUNY Purchase, is a public liberal arts college in Purchase, New York. Established in 1967 by Governor Nelson Rockefeller, SUNY Purchase is one of 13 compr ...

from 1974. Fernandez died of cancer on March 3, 1980 in New York City, at age of 50.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Royes 1929 births 1980 deaths 20th-century American ballet dancers 20th-century American educators 20th-century people from Florida 20th-century people from Louisiana 20th-century people from New York (state) American Ballet Theatre principal dancers American Ballet Theatre soloists American male ballet dancers American people of French descent American people of Spanish descent Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo dancers Dancers from Florida Dancers from Louisiana Dancers from New York (state) Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Educators from Manhattan Educators from New Orleans School of American Ballet alumni State University of New York at Purchase faculty University of South Florida faculty