Jose Manuel Carreño was born in Cuba, where he received his training at the Provincial School of Ballet and the 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, Basil in Don Quixote, Albrecht in Giselle and Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, and the Le Corsaire, Diana and Acteon and “Black Swan” pas de deux.
Carreño joined the English National Ballet in 1990, where his repertoire included Solorin “The Kingdom of the Shades” from La Bayadère, the Prince in Cinderella, Franz in Coppélia, Albrecht in Giselle, the Prince and the Gopak in The Nutcracker, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew and roles in a number of one-act ballets and pas de deux, including A Stranger I Came, Etudes, Graduation Ball and Prince Igor.
Carreño joined The Royal Ballet as a principal dancer in 1993 where his repertoire included the Bluebird in The Sleeping Beauty, Basilio in Don Quixote, Oberon and Puck in The Dream, a leading role in Herman Schmerman and the leading role in Matthew Hart’s Caught Dance. Carreño joined American Ballet Theatre as a Principal Dancer in June 1995. His repertoire with the Company includes the title role in Apollo, the leading role in Ballet Imperial, Solor in La Bayadère, Pyotr in The Bright Stream, Franz in Coppélia, Conrad, Ali the Slave and Lankendem in Le Corsaire, Basilio in Don Quixote, the third sailor in Fancy Free, Albrecht in Giselle, Fate in HereAfter, Des Grieux in Manon, Danilo in The Merry Widow, the Cavalier in Kevin McKenzie’s The Nutcracker, the pas de deux Diana and Acteon, Esmeralda, Grand Pas Classique, Other Dances and Sinatra Suite, Sergei in On the Dnieper, the Man From the House Opposite in Pillar of Fire, Warrior Chieftain in Polovtsian Dances, the Son in Prodigal Son, the leading male role in Push Comes to Shove, Jean de Brienne in Raymonda, Romeo and Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, Prince Désiré in The Sleeping Beauty, Misgir in The Snow Maiden, Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, the second movement in Symphony in C, the Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Theme and Variations, the first and second variations in Variations for Four, Without Words, and roles in The Brahms-Haydn Variations, Clear, Études, Majisimo, Overgrown Path, Petite Mort and Rabbit ad Rogue. He created a leading role in Within You Without You: A Tribute to George Harrison and Pièce d’Occasion with Herbie Hancock.
Mr. Carreño recently retired as a world renowned principal dancer from the American Ballet Theater in NYC. In conjunction with Mr. Robert de Warren he recently started the Carreño Dance Festival (www.carrenodancefestival.com) in Sarasota, Florida. Mr. Carreño also continues to dance professionally around the world.