The dancer I chose is Stella Abrera, she is a Filipina American born in South Pasadena, California and began her ballet career at the age of five. In 1996, she joined the American Ballet Theatre at 17 and remained as a principal dancer until she retired in June 2020. Upon her retirement she funded “Steps Forwards” for the Philippines, she also danced in a multitude of galas in the Philippines which benefitted disadvantaged children in the Philippines. She received many awards and nominations including her performance Benois de la Danse nomination for the Sleeping Beauty in 2017, as well as Woman of the year recognition from the Philippine Consulate General in New York in 2016. I chose Stella Abrera as the subject for my research project because I found her aspiring. As a fellow Filipino American, it’s great to see others strive in other careers than the one that’s most known or stereotypical such as nursing, law, or even engineering. I found myself interested in hearing her story and see how she strived to do what she enjoyed as a living, especially since I dreamt of being a ballet in my early years of elementary but found myself not enjoying it as much due to inflexibility from my part. I wanted to learn more about other Filipino Americans that have made a successful career in the States, other than those that are already known, like Vanessa Hudgens, AJ Rafael, and many others. After watching some of her performances on YouTube, it felt inspiring and was amazing to watch, that I knew I wanted my research project to about her.
As mentioned before, Abrera was born in South Pasadena, California and grew up moving constantly. She began her education in Ballet at the age of five and won the Gold Medal of the Margot Fonteyn International Ballet Competition, and even performed on the Bolshoi stage at the Prix de Lausanne. As a child growing up, she was the youngest of five children in her household and was constantly moving around due to her father’s career. At every new home they moved to, she was put into the best Ballet school in the area. This helped her ballet training at a young age, despite not sticking to one place. She stated that “dance was the only constant” in her life due to moving a lot, and how she felt super comfortable and, in her element, when she was in a studio. She was influenced by her older sister to start dancing after being urged to enroll at a local school near their house in Pasadena and fell in love with the art form. At the age of 17, in the year 1996, she enrolled into the American Ballet Theatre, aka ABT, as an apprentice and joined the company’s corps a few months after.
Stella Abrera began her ballet career at the age of 17, after joining ABT. She first won a Gold Medal. She was featured in her first Giselle with ABT and was named soloist in 2001, and in 2015 named Principal Dancer. They danced with the company ABT and found her home there and stayed for the remainder of her years as a ballerina. She suffered a back injury on top of having a Sciatic Nerve injury that halted her dreams for the next 18 months of her career. She was coached by Georgina Parkinson who passed after her break in dancing which helped her grow as a dancer and strive to do even better. She became the first Filipina dancer to hold the title as a Principal Dancer. Stella Abrera was a dancer for 24 years, before announcing her retirement in 2019 and mid 2020 at the age of 41, she retired. After retirement as a dancer, she was named artistic director for Kaatsabaan Cultural Park and continues to hold events and charities to help less fortunate children pursue their dreams of becoming a dancer. She holds galas to raise money and to help out those children including the children of CENTEX. She set up a small charity named Steps Forward for the children in Philippines and even made a guest appearance in a performance of “Giselle.”
I found Abrera to be interesting because we shared common heritage as Filipinas. It was fascinating learning about a Filipino American who pursued a career in arts especially since we are known to hold a more conventional career deemed important to our parents, such as a career in the medical field, business, or even law. It was fascinating learning how her parent’s supported her decision in pursuing dance as her career because they saw how driven and important it was to her. I found this interesting because many Filipino and even Fil-Ams I know, choose a more “conventional” career path because that was what they are expected of or have been taught their whole life. It was also interesting to hear about her being the first Filipina to be appointed as a Principal Dancer because it shows that all her hard work paid off. Finally, it amazed me that despite her injuries as a dancer, she persevered and continued to dance, taking motivation in losing loved ones in her life. She felt as though her injury could have ended her career, but she powered through because they were her motivation and she wanted to see her dreams come to a completion or a success.
I chose Stella Abrera as my choice of dancer because of her inspirational story of being a Ballerina with Filipino heritage and her motivation to overcome the obstacles that were in her path. Her career impacted children to be able to pursue their own dreams and be what they want to be. Especially children in Asia. She inspired them by showcasing that you can do whatever you want as long as you power through with the support of your loved ones and that an injury won’t hurt you unless you let it. She became a role model to many children and continued to support them by holding charities and galas, especially in the Philippines to show support to her community and heritage. As a Filipina myself, knowing what she has done and achieved inspires me to do better and to live my life to the fullest with my loved ones. She is known for being a ballet boundary breaker, meaning she was able to show the world her capabilities and surpass their expectations of her especially as a Filipina Dancer.
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