Ballet dancer/instructor. Alfredo Corvino was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. He studied ballet there with Alberto Poujanne as a scholarship student at the National Academy of Ballet then went on to dance with the company.As a performer, Dr. Corvino had toured internationally first as a member of the Jooss Ballet, then as a soloist with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Favorite roles included Spectre de la Rose, Bluebird and Carnaval. Later on he joined the Metropolitan Opera Ballet Company and subsequently became Ballet Master. Other companies with whom he had appeared include the Radio City Music Hall Ballet, Dance Players, the Herbert Ross Company, the Gavrilov Company, the Classic Ballet Company of New Jersey, the Dance Circle Company and Pina Bausch's Tanztheater Wuppertal.Dr. Corvino credited the following teachers for his training: Anatole Vilzak, Edward Caton, Boris Romanoff, Alexander Gavrilov, Margaret Craske and Antony Tudor.A noted authority on classical technique worldwide, Dr. Corvino's teaching credits are staggering. On the faculty of the Juilliard School for 42 years, he also taught at the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School for almost 20 years, then founded and directed his own school in New York City, the Dance Circle, for 25 years.
Dr. Corvino also served as panelist to the New York State Council on the Arts. At the time of his passing he was Ballet Master to Pina Bausch/Tanztheater Wuppertal and when in New York City, taught master ballet classes at the Wien Center for Dance and Theatre.Dr. Corvino was the recipient of many awards including the 2002 Martha Hill Award for Leadership in Dance. In May 2003 he had the distinction of receiving an Honorary Doctorate from The Juilliard School and in May 2005 he was awarded the Juilliard Centenniel Medal.
Mr. Corvino is survived by two daughters, both of New York City: Andra, a member of Juilliard's dance faculty, and Ernesta, a ballet teacher and choreographer who directs the Dance Circle troupe; and a sister, Margarita Corvino, of Uruguay. His wife, Marcella Rubin, died in 2004.