José Manuel Carreño

Who is José Manuel Carreño?

José Manuel Carreño is a retired Cuban ballet dancer, who performed as a principal dancer with the English National Ballet, Royal Ballet and American Ballet Theatre.

Carreño started dancing at the age of ten and received his training at the Provincial School of Ballet and the Cuban National Ballet School. He won the Gold Medal at the New York International Ballet Competition in 1987 and the Grand Prix at the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi in 1990. He has appeared extensively in Europe, Latin America and the United States, dancing such roles as Franz in Coppélia, Basilio in Don Quixote, Albrecht in Giselle and Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake. He has also performed in the principal roles in such works as Le Corsaire, the Diane and Actéon pas de deux and the Black Swan pas de deux.

He has been principal dancer in the English National Ballet in 1990, The Royal Ballet in 1993 and the American Ballet Theater starting in 1995.

In 2004 Carreño received the Dance Magazine Award for significant contributions to dance. He is married to former Cuban National Ballet dancer Ana Lourdes Novoa.

In 2007 he appeared in the movie, Born to Be Wild – The Leading Men of American Ballet Theatre with Angel Corella, Ethan Stiefel and Vladimir Malakhov, directed by Judy Kinberg.