{{Short description|American ballet dancer (1929–1980)}} {{Use mdy dates |date=January 2025}} {{Use American English |date=January 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Royes Fernandez | image = Royes Fernandez.jpg | caption = Fernandez in 1961 | birth_name = Royes Emanuel Fernandez | birth_date = {{Birth date|1929|07|15}} | birth_place = New Orleans, Louisiana, US | death_date = {{Death date and age|1980|03|03|1929|07|15}} | death_place = New York City, US | occupation = Ballet dancer | alma_mater = School of American Ballet | years_active = 1944–1980 }} '''Royes Emanuel Fernandez''' (July 15, 1929{{snd}}March 3, 1980) was an American ballet dancer who was a soloist then principal dancer for the American Ballet Theatre (ABT).<ref>{{Cite EBO|title=Royes Fernandez|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Royes-Fernandez|access-date=2025-02-26}}</ref>
== Biography == Royes Emanuel Fernandez was born on July 15, 1929 in New Orleans, Louisiana, to his father, Manuel Paul Fernandez, a jeweler, and Francoise Blanchine. He had an older sister, Jeanne. He was of Spanish and French descent.{{sfn|Glen|1962|p=81}}
He began dancing at age of eight with Lelia Haller in New Orleans. He debuted performance with the New Orleans Opera Ballet in 1944. During mid-1945, he was studying at the School of American Ballet in New York City.
After graduating from high school in June 1946, Fernandez moved to New York City, and there he studied with Vincenzo Celli, joining Wassily de Basil's Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo in September of that year.{{sfn|Glen|1962|p=81}} The following year, he joined the Markova-Dolin Ballet as a soloist.{{sfn|Scott|1975|p=200}} His primary affiliation from 1950 to 1973 was American Ballet Theatre,{{sfn|Cohen|1960|p=66}} first as a soloist and then as a principal dancer from 1957 onward.
However, Fernandez continued to perform with other companies as a guest artist or as a member for brief periods of time. These companies participated at the Ballet Alicia Alonso (now Cuban National Ballet),{{sfn|Scott|1975|p=202}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Castañeda |first=Minerva |date=June 6, 2013 |title=National Ballet of Cuba: original spirit on its 65th anniversary |url=https://www.granma.cu/idiomas/ingles/culture-i/6jun-Ballet.html |access-date=November 8, 2024 |work=Granma}}</ref> Borovansky Ballet, London Festival Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, a 1963 world tour with Margot Fonteyn (as her partner),<ref>{{Cite web |last=Macaulay |first=Alastair |date=June 2019 |title=Margot Fonteyn and Classicism |url=https://www.alastairmacaulay.com/all-essays/margot-fonteyn-and-classicism |access-date=November 9, 2024 |website=Alastair Macaulay}}</ref> and the New York City Ballet from 1959 to 1960.
Fernandez was considered by many the greatest American ''danseur noble'' to date.{{sfn|Jamison|Kaplan|1993|p=62}} He was particularly noted for the male principal roles in ''Giselle'', ''Swan Lake'', and ''La Sylphide'', but danced contemporary works as well. He partnered with the foremost ballerinas of his time including Fonteyn, Lupe Serrano, and Toni Lander.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Haggin |first=B. H. |date=1965 |title=Ballet and Music Chronicle |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3849116 |journal=The Hudson Review |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=414–424 |doi=10.2307/3849116 |jstor=3849116 |issn=0018-702X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
Fernandez was active as a teacher and guest performer with both major and small companies throughout the United States, eventually leaving active performing to join the faculty first of the University of South Florida in 1973{{sfn|Scott|1975|p=204}} and then the State University of New York at Purchase from 1974.{{sfn|Cohen|1998|p=292}}
Fernandez died of cancer on March 3, 1980 in New York City, at age of 50.<ref>{{Cite news |author=Dunning, Jennifer |date=March 5, 1980 |title=ROYES FERNANDEZ, DANCER, 50, IS DEAD; Ballet Theater Principal Known for Lyricism, Style and Virtuosity – Praised for Siegfried Lauded by Critics |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/03/05/archives/royes-fernandez-dancer-50-is-dead-ballet-theater-principal-known.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=November 8, 2024 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Bibliography == * {{Cite book |last=Glen |first=Edwina Hazard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NR4FPsC2TV4C&q=%22de+Basil%22+%22Royes+Fernandez%22 |title=The Wonderful New Book of Ballet |date=1962 |publisher=Rand McNally}} * {{Cite book |last=Cohen |first=Selma Jeanne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wGkiAQAAIAAJ&q=%22american+ballet+theatre%22+%22Royes+Fernandez%22+1950 |title=The American Ballet Theatre: 1940–1960 |date=1960 |publisher=Dance Perspective}} * {{Cite book |last=Scott |first=Harold George |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3lLHg6tLeIwC&dq=%22Markova-Dolin%22+%22Royes+Fernandez%22&pg=PA200 |title=Lelia: The Compleat Ballerina |date=1975 |publisher=Pelican Publishing |isbn=978-1-4556-0727-3}} * {{Cite book |last1 = Jamison | first1 = Judith | author1-link = Judith Jamison |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nBOCAAAAMAAJ&q=%22danseur+noble%22+%22Royes+Fernandez%22 |title=Dancing Spirit: An Autobiography |last2=Kaplan |first2=Howard |date=1993 |publisher=Doubleday |isbn=978-0-385-42557-5}} * {{Cite book |last=Cohen |first=Selma Jeanne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OwcKAQAAMAAJ&q=%22state+university+of+new+york%22+%22royes+fernandez%22 |title=International Encyclopedia of Dance: A Project of Dance Perspectives Foundation, Inc |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-512310-4}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Royes}} Category:1929 births Category:1980 deaths Category:20th-century American ballet dancers Category:20th-century American educators Category:20th-century people from Florida Category:20th-century people from Louisiana Category:20th-century people from New York (state) Category:American Ballet Theatre principal dancers Category:American Ballet Theatre soloists Category:American male ballet dancers Category:American people of French descent Category:American people of Spanish descent Category:Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo dancers Category:Dancers from Florida Category:Dancers from Louisiana Category:Dancers from New York (state) Category:Deaths from cancer in New York (state) Category:Educators from Manhattan Category:Educators from New Orleans Category:School of American Ballet alumni Category:Purchase College faculty Category:University of South Florida faculty