Lupe Serrano (1930-2023) was born in Chile and began dancing after her family moved to Mexico City. She was a prima ballerina with American Ballet Theatre for nearly two decades, later becoming a longtime teacher for the company. Both she and frequent partner Royes Fernandez shared the connection of parents from Spanish and French descent. Louisiana-born Fernandez (1929-1980) had a long performing career from 1946 to 1973, including 23 years with American Ballet Theatre. He partnered the foremost ballerinas of his time including Margot Fonteyn, Alicia Alonso, Carla Fracci, and Maria Tallchief. The performance seen here was the final Pillow appearance by both Serrano and Fernandez, who had first performed together here in 1961 for two successive weeks, with two other engagements in the 1960s. They performed Les Sylphides together many times with Ballet Theatre, where the work had been originally staged by Fokine himself for the company’s debut in 1940. It is a pure romantic ballet with no plot.
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