Today we’d like to introduce you to John Abenanty. Them and their team share their story with us below:
John Michael Abenanty of Brooklyn, New York began his training with Brooklyn Ballet at the age of 8. He later attended The Luigi Jazz Centre, Manhattan Youth Ballet/Studio Maestro, and LaGuardia High school. John graduated from the Harid Conservatory after three years and received the “Dance study Award” (top student) in Ballet, Jazz, and Modern dance classes. After performing multiple soloist and principal roles for two seasons with the Columbia Classical Ballet; Director Radenko Pavlovich offered to mentor John for competitions. He also brought him on guestings with several companies such as The Charleston Ballet, Providence Festival Ballet, and The Charleston Ballet of West Virginia. After the final round of VKIBC NY, John was awarded a contract to The State Ballet of Georgia under the direction of Nina Aninashvili where he was a guest soloist. During John’s time in Tbilisi Georgia he performed roles such as Swan lake Pas de Trois, Symphony in C 1st and 3rd movements (George Balanchine), Don Quixote (Basilio-Gala for opening the theatre), Sarabonde (Jiří Kylián), Leah-3 Elders (Alexei Ratmanski), and Giselle Pas de Six. John was also invited with the State Ballet of Georgia to be a guest performer with the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow performing Leah. John later joined the Sofia National Ballet company under the direction of Sara-Nora Krysteva as a Soloist in 2017. He was later promoted to Principal Dancer in 2020. He has performed roles such as Conrad in Le Corsaire, Basilio in Don Quixote, Tsuniga in Carmen, Peasant Pas De Deux in Giselle, and Lankendem in Le Corsaire.
In 2018, John performed the role of Lankandem in Le Corsaire at the Bolshoi Ballet through the Sofia National Opera and Ballet. During his time abroad he has toured throughout Europe with both companies and was awarded a special prize from the Varna International Ballet Competition.
In 2021, John shifted his career back to America dancing for the Orlando Ballet under the direction of Jorden Morris. In John’s first season with the Orlando Ballet he has performed Mowgli in the Jungle Book, Albrecht in Giselle, Nutcracker Prince and Snow Prince, and other notable roles. Some of John’s classical repertoire includes: Conrad and Lankendem in Le Corsaire, Basilio in Don Quixote, Albrecht in Giselle, Nutcracker Prince/Snow Prince in The Nutcracker, Mowgli in The Jungle Book, Lucian Paquita in Paquita, Gurn in La Sylphide, Scarecrow in Wizard of Oz and many more. Some of John’s contemporary repertoire includes works from Jiri Kylian, Helen Pickett, Mark Godden, Devon Carney, Anna Maria Holmes, Val Caniparoli, Donvena Pandurski, Jessica Lang, Alexei Ratmansky, Simone Cuttino, Angelina Gavrilova, Nadezhda Dicheva and many more.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Personally, I have always had to create my own opportunities. I have always believed that the perfect ballet company is the place that wants to give you opportunities to dance. A dancer is an investment for a company and the company must be willing to pass their knowledge and take a chance on that dancer. This takes an incredible amount of time and effort from both sides. For me to gather more knowledge and get more performing opportunities I have had to move my career around the world with nothing but a suitcase. Restarting my life from scratch more times than anybody else that I know of. Just for the slightest chance that I will be able to perform lead roles. This was extremely difficult and there was a time when I was going to quit searching altogether. In those times you really just need to trust the process and believe in yourself, and Boom. I was finally promoted to Principal Dancer in 2020 In the Sofia National Opera and Ballet. In a country I never planned on living in and a place I never knew I’d fall in love with. Life is just crazy and unpredictable and my main advice to everybody is trust the process and work hard.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I have always believed that we as dancers must give the audience an experience they will never forget. Personally, I have always been told that to be the best performer I can be, I must master all the steps. That advice really resonated with me because as an artist we have a choice to either copy and improve on what we have seen before, or make the role we are portraying more personal and individual. I try my best to be unique and include challenging steps in my performances that the audience maybe hasn’t seen before, while at the same time giving my own personal touch on the role that I am portraying. For me, that is what makes an experience unforgettable and I try my best to supply that for the audience every show.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
The ballet world changes so fast and is constantly growing and expanding for better or worse. Many art forms are subjective however in ballet there are written pedagogical rules and guidelines that actually create right and wrong. So it is less subjective than other artforms as there are clear rules. Ballet is supposed to look effortless and mystical, but in actuality requires an immense amount of strength, knowledge, and virtuosity. It is up to our directors to educate the audience by putting on productions that are well executed, and show the artistic and technical challenges of ballet, while keeping the productions tasteful. The easy way out of this is to have performances with an abundance of tricks, or even nudity to some extent, however, this only cheapens the artform and makes the audience’s experience uncomfortable and forgettable. Lately, these types of productions have been getting less and less, for the better in my opinion. I believe ballet is headed in a good direction and we are getting a new generation of audience members that respect the artform.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: John Abenanty
Image Credits
Zavesco Photography
Michael Cairns
Svetoslav Nikolov
