Lorena Feijóo (born ) is a Cuban former ballet dancer. Her dance career started in 1988 at the Cuban National Ballet, but left Cuba two years later for more opportunities. After stints at Ballet de Monterrey, Royal Ballet of Flanders and

Joffrey Ballet The Joffrey Ballet is an American dance company and training institution in Chicago, Illinois. The Joffrey regularly performs classical and contemporary ballets during its annual performance season at the Civic Opera House, including its annual ...

, she joined the

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 ...

in 1999 as a principal dancer, and retired in 2017. She then became an associate artistic director of Bay Area Houston Ballet & Theatre. Her sister,

Lorna Feijóo Lorna Feijóo (born ) is a Cuban former ballet dancer. Her career started at the Cuban National Ballet, where she rose through the ranks. She left Cuba in 2001, then spent two years with the Cincinnati Ballet, before joining the Boston Ballet i ...

, was also a ballet dancer.

Early life and training

Lorena Feijóo was born in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Cuban National Ballet before becoming a ballet teacher, while her father was an actor. Her younger sister, Lorna, would later be a principal dancer with

Boston Ballet The Boston Ballet is an American professional classical ballet company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams and Sydney Leonard, and was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. ...

. Lorena became interested in ballet after watching her mother. However, her mother initially discouraged her to pursue ballet because ballet training in Cuba is "very competitive, the hours are grueling." At age nine, when she was old enough, Feijóo entered the Cuban National Ballet School, which she described as "excruciatingly good." At the school, she received her ballet training under

Alicia Alonso Alicia Alonso (born Alicia Ernestina de la Caridad del Cobre Martínez del Hoyo; 21 December 1920 – 17 October 2019) was a Cuban prima ballerina assoluta and choreographer whose company became the Ballet Nacional de Cuba in 1955. She is bes ...

, the co-founder of the Cuban National Ballet, in

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, French, American and Cuban styles, and also studied folk dance, acting, piano, arts, Spanish and French. One of her frequent partner at the school was José Manuel Carreño, who became a principal dancer with 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 ...

. She graduated at eighteen, having trained as both a dancer and a teacher.

Career

In 1988, at age eighteen, Feijóo joined the Cuban National Ballet. After spending a year in the

corps de ballet In ballet, the ''corps de ballet'' (; French language, French for "body of the little dance") is the group of ballet dancer, dancers who are not principal dancers or Soloist (ballet), soloists. They are a permanent part of the ballet company and ...

, she was cast in solo and principal roles, but less often than she expected, though she was a favourite of

Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver who competes in Formula One for Aston Martin in Formula One, Aston Martin. Alonso has won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in and with ...

, a co-founder of the company, who called her his "Tropical Beauty." In 1990, at age 20, she left the company and Cuba as Alicia Alonso restricted Feijóo's opportunities to perform abroad. She recalled Alonso telling her, "Lorena, either you're in or you're out. You choose." She chose to leave Cuba, and was granted a visa by the Ministry of Culture to leave the country without defecting. Despite other dancers' efforts, she had not perform in Cuba since, even though several other Cuban dancers who went abroad were able to return. She added Alonso's preference of classical ballets is also a reason for her departure, but not politics. In 1991, she joined Ballet de Monterrey, ran by Ann Marie DeAngelo, where she worked with former American Ballet Theatre principal dancer

Cynthia Gregory Cynthia Kathleen Gregory (born July 8, 1946) is an American former prima ballerina. Career Born in Los Angeles, Gregory took up dancing when she was five, with the encouragement of her parents, who hoped exercise would stem her history of childho ...

, followed by two years in Belgium as a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet of Flanders. In 1995, Feijóo moved to the United States to join the

Los Angeles Ballet Los Angeles Ballet (LAB) is a classical ballet company based in Los Angeles. While rehearsals take place at the Los Angeles Ballet Center, the company tours its performances to venues across the metropolitan area, including the Dolby Theatre, Pas ...

, but never performed with the company as it went bankrupt and disbanded. DeAngelo, who had become the associate artistic director of the Chicago-based

, recruited Feijóo. She remained in the company for four years, and left when she found herself "repeating the same repertory." In 1999, she was hired by the

. She was initially offered a soloist contract but Helgi Tomasson, the artistic director of the company, allowed her to join as a principal dancer after Evelyn Cisneros and Sabina Allemann both retired the same year. She made her company debut in

Nervi Nervi is a former fishing village 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Portofino on the Riviera di Levante, now a seaside resort in Liguria, in northwest Italy. Once an independent ''comune'', it is now a ''quartiere'' of Genoa. Nervi is 4 miles ( ...

, Italy, when the company was on tour. The following year, she made her debut as the title role 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 ...

'', her favourite role, and was coached by

Natalia Makarova Natalia Romanovna Makarova (, born 21 November 1940) is a Russian prima ballerina and choreographer. ''The History of Dance'', published in 1981, notes that "her performances set standards of artistry and aristocracy of dance which mark her a ...

for the Kingdom of Shades scene in ''

La Bayadère ''La Bayadère'' ("the temple dancer") ( ru. «Баядерка», ''Bayaderka'') is an 1877 ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by the French choreographer Marius Petipa to music by Ludwig Minkus and libretto by . The ba ...

''. In 2002, she learned Balanchine's '' Ballo della Regina'' from former

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 ...

principal dancer Merrill Ashley. She also considers dancing Kitri in ''

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

'' a highlight of her career. Choreographers she had worked with include Val Caniparoli, Yuri Possokhov and Liam Scarlett, including in Possokhov's ''

Swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

''. Outside of the San Francisco Ballet, Feijóo had performed with the

Bolshoi Ballet The Bolshoi Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company based at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Founded in 1776, the Bolshoi is among the world's oldest Ballet company, ballet companies. In the early 20th century, it ca ...

and Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami. In 2004, Lorena and Lorna Feijóo performed together for the first time, in a one-night-only Boston Ballet performance of ''

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 ...

'', with Lorna as Odette and Lorena as Odile, roles usually performed by the same dancer. Lorna's husband, Nelson Madrigal, partnered both of them. In 2005, Lorena acted for the first time in

Andy García Andrés Arturo García Menéndez (born April 12, 1956) is an American actor, director, producer, and musician. He first rose to prominence acting in Brian De Palma's '' The Untouchables'' (1987) alongside Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, and ...

's film '' The Lost City'' as a Cuban nightclub dancer, with the dance sequence choreographed by herself with her mother's assistance. In 2008, the Feijóo sisters appeared on ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

'', performing Caniparoli's ''Lambarena''. In 2011, the sisters and José Manuel Carreño performed a rendition of ''Swan Lake'' on ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Strictly Come Dancing (widely known as Dancing with the Stars)'' is an international television franchise based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing,'' itself a successor to the show ''Come Dancing'' (1950–1998) ...

''. In 2017, her final year in the San Francisco Ballet, Feijóo was also tasked with coaching other dancers. She left the company after a mixed-bill program in April 2017. She then gave her farewell performances as a ballet dancer in June, with Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami, in '' Pas de Quatre''. Later that year, she performed in two

San Francisco Opera The San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 wh ...

productions, in Verdi's '' La traviata'' and the world premiere of Adams' '' Girls of the Golden West'' as

Lola Montez Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, Countess of Landsfeld (17 February 1821 – 17 January 1861), better known by the stage name Lola Montez (), was an Irish dancer and actress who became famous as a Spanish dancer, courtesan, and mistress of King Ludw ...

. After she stopped performing, she became an associated artistic director of the Texas-based Bay Area Houston Ballet & Theatre.

Personal life

Feijóo was married to fellow principal dancer Vitor Luiz for seven years before they divorced. Their daughter was born in 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feijoo, Lorena 1970s births Living people Dancers from Havana Cuban ballerinas San Francisco Ballet principal dancers Joffrey Ballet dancers Cuban National Ballet dancers Prima ballerinas 20th-century ballet dancers 21st-century ballet dancers Cuban emigrants to the United States Cuban expatriates in Mexico Cuban expatriates in Belgium Year of birth missing (living people)