Cesar Corrales (born September 26, 1996) is a Cuban-Canadian ballet dancer and actor. He starred as "Young Billy" in the Chicago and Toronto productions of ''

Billy Elliot the Musical ''Billy Elliot: The Musical'' is a Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age stage musical based on the Billy Elliot, 2000 film of the same name. The music is by Elton John, and the book and lyrics are by Lee Hall (playwright), Lee Hall, who wrote th ...

'' and has been a principal dancer with

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

. He is now a principal dancer with

The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded ...

Early life and education

Born in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

to Cuban parents, and raised in Canada, Corrales received his initial training from his parents, Jesus Corrales, a former principal with the

Royal Winnipeg Ballet The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is Canada's oldest ballet company and the longest continuously operating ballet company in North America. History It was founded in 1939 as the "Winnipeg Ballet Club" by Gweneth Lloyd and Betty Farrally (who also fou ...

and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and Taina Morales, a fellow Royal Winnipeg Ballet dancer and formerly a soloist for

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 ...

. At the age of 4 he appeared in the Royal Winnipeg's production of ''Madama Butterfly''. Soon afterwards he appeared in the

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

movie, ''Shall We Dance?''.The New York Times Movies
Cesar Corrales Filmography New York Times In 2008 he won first place in Coupe Quebec gymnastics competition. That same year he joined

National Ballet of Canada The National Ballet of Canada is a Canadian ballet company that was founded in 1951 in Toronto, Ontario, with Celia Franca, the first artistic director. A company of 70 dancers with its own orchestra, the National Ballet has been led since 2022 ...

's school and trained there until he was cast in the starring role of the Chicago premiere of Billy Elliot the musical. Introducing Toronto's Billy Elliothttp://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/The-312/April-2010/Chicago-Billy-Elliot-Opening-NIght-Cesar-Corrales/ Cesar Corrales Nails the Opening Night of 'Billy Elliot the Musical' He performed alongside the Tony-award nominated actress Emily Skinner, who played his dance teacher. After the Chicago production closed at the end of 2010, he starred in the show's 2011 Toronto premiere. Chicago Billy's Announced After leaving ''Billy Elliot'' he returned to training in ballet.

Ballet career

Corrales competed in and won the

Prix de Lausanne The Prix de Lausanne () is an international dance competition held annually in Lausanne, Switzerland. The competition is for young dancers seeking to pursue a professional career in classical ballet, and many former prize winners of the competition ...

in 2013 which offered a significant scholarship from the Oak Foundation. Rather than accepting this prize, he followed his mother to Europe and continued training with her while she was guest teaching at the Norwegian Ballet. He joined American Ballet Theatre Studio Company in 2014. While dancing with the company he won the Grand Prix Award and Artistry Award at the Youth America Grand Prix. He joined

in 2015, where he won the company's Emerging Dancer Award in 2016. In 2017 he became a principal dancer at the ENB and also won the National Dance Award for Outstanding Male Performance for

Le Corsaire ''Le Corsaire'' is a ballet typically presented in three acts, with a libretto originally created by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges loosely based on the poem '' The Corsair'' by Lord Byron. Originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to ...

. The following year he was declared one of

Dance Magazine ''Dance Magazine'' is an American trade publication for dance. It was first published in June 1927 as ''The American Dancer''. ''Dance Magazine'' is currently part of Dance Media, led by longtime arts publisher Joanna Harp as president, and has mu ...

's " 25 to Watch". His repertory with English National Ballet included Ali in ''Le Corsaire'', Drosselymeyer's Nephew in ''The Nutcracker'', Mercutio in

Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev (17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet-born ballet dancer and choreographer. Nureyev is widely regarded as the preeminent male ballet dancer of his generation as well as one of the greatest ballet dancers of all ...

's ''Romeo and Juliet'', Albrecht in ''Giselle'', Franz in ''Coppélia,'' and leading roles in ''Fantastic Beings, Le Jeune homme et la mort and

In the middle, somewhat elevated IN, In or in may refer to: Dans * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Independen ...

.'' He also created the role of Hilarion in the premiere of Akram Khan's ''Giselle''. In 2018, he joined The Royal Ballet as a first soloist. He made his debut as Romeo in

Kenneth MacMillan Sir Kenneth MacMillan (11 December 192929 October 1992) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer who was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death. Ea ...

's ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' alongside Francesca Hayward in May 2019. In May 2021, he was promoted to principal dancer.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Corrales, Cesar 1996 births Living people Canadian male ballet dancers Cuban male ballet dancers Canadian male stage actors Cuban male stage actors Male actors from Mexico City Male actors from Toronto