Vicente Nebrada

Vicente Balbino Nebreda Arias (Caracas, Venezuela, March 31, 1920 – ibid, May 26, 2002) was a choreographer and dancer who was considered a Venezuelan pioneer for dance during the 1940s. He was part of the Cátedra de Ballet del Liceo Andrés Bello, the first attempt at a formal dance school in the country. Later on, he danced with Ballet Nacional de Venezuela, the first long term professional company. Nebrada was also one of the first Venezuelan dancers to have an international career, he worked with Roland Petit’s company in France, the Joffrey Ballet, the Harkness Ballet in the United States, and Ballet Nacional de Cuba. His extensive career as a choreographer began in 1958, when he began his professional career, and ended with the creation of his version of The Nutcracker in 1996. He created 61 original choreographies and adaptations of universally classic repertoires for diverse companies all over the world.
In 1975 Nebrada helped found the International Ballet of Caracas and became their artistic director and resident choreographer in 1977. In 1984 he became the artistic director of the National Ballet of Caracas where he remained until his death due to leukemia in 2002. His dances have been performed by Ballet Hispanico, American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, National Ballet of Canada, Berlin Opera Ballet, English National Ballet, Australian Ballet and the Universal Ballet of Korea.
A distinctive style.
His style is undeniably Neoclassical. His duets or pas de deux are known for their plasticity, expressiveness and intricate lifts. His partnering style shows a great deal of upper-body freedom while the ballerina moves on and off-balance. His spatial designs are symmetrical, harmonious and often organic, with dancers moving across the stage, while lending a visceral sense of ownership to his dances.
Many of his narrative ballets are filled with colors and dramatic effervescence. This approach is inherent to Latin American idiosyncrasy, and his existence is perhaps a residue from the classic ballets of the romantic era. Some of his best known narrative ballets or classical adaptations are "The Nutcracker", "Romeo and Juliet", "FireBird", "Don Quijote", "Copelia", "Cinderella", "Inés de Castro", "Van Gogh", and "George Sand.
He also imprinted his signature style to many abstract or non-narrative ballets. Some of them present some scenes based on stories or imagery, but they are still considered non-narrative as they do not follow a plot or a script. Examples include "Our Waltzes", "Lento a Tempo e Apassionato", "La luna y Los híjos que tenía", "Una Danza para ti", "A Haendel's Celebration", "Pentimento", "Double Colchea" and "Fever", among others.
Allan Ulricht, writer of the Dance examiner for the "San Francisco Chronicle", said:
"…'Fever' is clearly an export ballet…" "…The choreography is structured like a classical diversion and Nebrada affirms the women's communal purpose with repeated circular forays. Some of the women struggle, others yield and one is raised aloft like the spirit of feminism triumphant. Thanks to the eight fearless dancers, the effect was intensely visceral. As La Lupe kept singing, 'Adios, adios, adios', I wanted to shout, 'Bienvenido, bienvenido, bienvenido…' (1995)
International career.
Cuba.
In 1952 he received an invitation from Alicia Alonsato join her dance company in Havana, Cuba. After almost a year of work, he injured his knee and decided to return to Venezuela in 1953 in order to recover. After his recovery he joined the recently created company, . With this company he adapted and interpreted ballets from classic repertoire and began to create choreographies; his adapted pieces of "Les Sylphides", Aurora Wedding (act III), and an original work: Concerto in Warsaw, are from this time. On November 15, 1953 the television station Radio Caracas Televisiónwas founded and on the 16 broadcasts began, Ballet Nena Coranil was part of the first broadcast with Vicente’s adaptation of the ballet "Les Sylphides", where he performed the principal role with Irma Contreras and Graciela Henríquez. He also was part of the first professional show that the company performed in Teatro Municipal of Caracas.
France.
After two years of work with the Nena Coronil company, Nebrada along with his inseparable friends of the time, Irma Contreras and Graciela Henríquez, realized that to continue their professional careers they should travel outside of the country. It was then that Irma Contreras, using her close contacts to Marcos Pérez Jiménez,got an appointment with him and asked for a scholarship for the three to study outside of the country. Pérez Jiménez granted them the scholarships and paid their airfares. In 1955 they resigned from Ballet Nena Coronil and traveled to France, funded by the Venezuelan government, and settled in Paris. Ballet Nena Coronil closed shortly after this. A main factor of the closure was that , Irma’s sister, left the company and started a new ballet school, and , opening its doors to the prior students and dancers from Nena Coronil.
The same year Vicente joined Roland Petit’s company, in Paris. In addition to dancing he created two small pieces for the company, Pas de Deux and Dance of the Adolescents. A year later he moved to the company Las Estrellas de Montecarlo. Little more than a catalog or program is known about his involvement in this company.
In 1957 he returned to Venezuela with Irma Contreras, who joined Ballet Nacional de Venezuela together with her sister, Margot. Vicente worked in the new company as a soloist and choreographer. He created two works for this company, Fifth Symphony with Tchaikovsky’s music and The Waltz with Maurice Ravel’s music.
United States.
Determined to continue his international career and seeing The United States as his goal, he auditioned for the Joffrey Balletin 1958. This company was funded by billionaire Rebekah Harknesswho inherited her husband’s fortune, he owned shares in the holdings of Standard Oiland, thanks to her investment, the Joffrey company paid the dancers, hired choreographers, and performed shows and tours. Rebekah called for more participation in the artistic decision making and for the company to be named in Harkness’ honor. Robert Joffrey, who was the director and founder of the company, did not accept Rebekah’s demands and the Harkess Foundation withdrew its sponsorship. Then in 1964 Rebekah founded Harkness Ballet, and hired many of the dancers who formed Joffrey Ballet, including Vicente.
The Harkness Ballethad its premiere outside of the United States in 1965, in Cannes,with George Skibine as director and a repertoire composed of works by Alvin Ailey, George Skibine, Erik Bruhn, Brian Macdonald, and Stuart Hodes. The company’s work was initially overseas and they were immediately successful.
In 1967, tired of dance, with an injured body, and feeling like he was at the age of retirement, he decided to speak with Rebekah and asked her for the opportunity to begin his career as a choreographer and for a smooth transition. Rebekah accepted his proposal and allowed him to begin his choreographic work with the junior company. Vicente started to create the work Caín that was revised and evaluated in the studios by the company’s direction, which earned him the opportunity to continue working in the choreographic realm. Thanks to this opportunity in 1969 he created, what would be his first international success, Percussion for Six Men with the music of Lee Gurst. This piece was presented in 1969 and immediately became part of the company’s professional repertoire, which it took to a festival in Germany, receiving great reviews from the judges. This success definitely opened the doors for Harkness Ballet to dedicate itself to choreography and stop interpretation. He retired as a dancer in 1970, at 40 years old. He created a total of 8 pieces for the company: Percussion for six men, Schubert Variations, Percussion for Six Women, Geminis, Moonlight, Sebastian, and Shadows and Memories. Being in the company he established his relationship with the dancer Zane Wilson, who would become his good companion and dedicated assistant for more than 30 years and who would accompany and support him in all of his companies.
The company dissolved in 1975 and many of the dancers were incorporated into different companies around the world, among these Ballet Internacional de Caracas, under the artistic direction of Vicente Nebrada and Zhandra Rodríguez.
Legacy.
Nebrada's extensive body of work brought a sense of distinctiveness and relevance to Venezuela's cultural heritage. His choreographies continue to be performed around the world as they emerged during a particularly prosper era of Neoclassical ballet in the 20th century. He sought after dancers with both expressivity and technical abilities, and most of his male dancers also needed to be skilled partners. His choreographic style gave an identity to the National Ballet of Caracas, which became the resident ballet company of the Teresa Carreño Cultural complex in 1984. Despite frequent interruptions due to government cuts, the company's funding is subsidized mostly by the Venezuelan government. As with many other companies in the world, the National Ballet of Caracas continue to struggle to maintain its season, pay its dancers and remain viable.
Awards.
Nebrada has been the recipient of numerous awards. Among them: