ABT Principal Herman Cornejo with Grupo Cadabra to Perform ANIMA ANIMAL at The Joyce

The Joyce Theater Foundation will celebrate the opening of its Spring/Summer ‘25 Season with lauded dancer Herman Cornejo and Grupo Cadabra in Anima Animal. Completing a vision for Argentine ballet begun by Nijinsky more than 100 years ago, the moving new work will play The Joyce Theater from February 18-23. 

In 1917, legendary dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky was invited to stage Caaporá, a ballet inspired by the Guarani indigenous legend of the Urutaú bird—a mystical creature from the forests in northeastern Argentina. Though he accepted, illness prevented him from completing what would have been his first “Argentine” ballet. Inspired by Nijinsky’s everlasting, groundbreaking artistic vision, renowned dancer and American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer Herman Cornejo revived this narrative in Anima Animal, his first ever full-length production as creator. 

Co-produced with the Teatro del Bicentenario in 2022, Anima Animal is a powerful, immersive new work that pays homage to a dance work brimming with potential for over a century. A production created with an entire team of world-class Argentine artists, the evening-length piece features choreography by award-winning Anabella Tuliano and an original score by acclaimed composers DJ UJI and Noelia Escalzo. It will be performed by Cornejo along with Tuliano’s Argentine dance company, Grupo Cadabra. Opening its Spring/Summer ‘25 Season with a groundbreaking work 100 years in the making, The Joyce invites audiences to reflect on love, redemption, and compassion for Earth and its creatures.