Stella Abrera

Stella Abrera (born 1978 in Manila, Philippines) is a Filipina-American ballet dancer. She danced as a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre (ABT) until her retirement in 2020, and is the company's first Filipina principal ballerina. She then became the artistic director of the dance cultural park Kaatsbaan, and in September 2022 took up the role of artistic director of the ABT JKO School. following Cynthia Harvey's departure in May.

Early life and training The youngest of five children, Stella was born in Manila. Shortly after her birth, her family moved back to the United States. Abrera began dancing at the age of five at a local school in Pasadena, California. Due to her father's job as a civil engineer, her childhood was spent living all over the world in far-flung locations including Australia, her older siblings lived in Jakarta and São Paulo. In Sydney, she trained in the Royal Academy of Dance method at the Halliday Dance Centre. In 1995, she traveled to London to compete at the Royal Academy of Dance’s Adeline Genée Awards, where she was awarded the Gold medal. There she was seen by Ross Stretton who offered her the opportunity to audition for American Ballet Theatre in New York.

Career In 1996, Abrera joined ABT at the age of seventeen as an apprentice.

In 2001, she was promoted to soloist. Over a lengthy two year recovery period, she eventually returned to dancing. It is same role she was set to perform prior to her back injury. He further noted that "her dancing was luminous, and all of it was stylish and heartfelt; but above all in Act II, where the dead Giselle dances to save her living lover, Albrecht, from death, she made it clear that dance was a spiritual act. Her steps were filled with yearning for him and devotion to dance itself."

After Abrera became a principal dancer, Irina Kolpakova, a senior member of the ABT artistic staff and former Mariinsky Ballet ballerina, coaches Abrera on her more demanding roles.

In 2018, Abrera returned to the Philippines, with a program titled An Intimate Evening with Stella Abrera & American Ballet Stars, with ABT dancers including Gillian Murphy and Isabella Boylston. Abrera also mentors Filipino ballet students. She had also taught master classes throughout the US and abroad, and serves as Guest Ballet Mistress for American Ballet Theatre Studio Company.

In 2019, ABT announced that Abrera will retire from ABT during the Spring 2020 season, dancing Giselle on June 13, 2020 as her farewell performance. Due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on performing arts, her farewell performance was cancelled. Her last performance with the company was Giselle in February at the Kennedy Center, Washington DC, with James Whiteside as Albrecht.

In June 2022, ABT announced that Abrera will become the acting artistic director of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. Her position will take effect in August and will last a year.

Selected repertoire Abrera's repertoire with the American Ballet Theatre includes: They welcomed their first child, a son, in January 2026.

She studied at Long Island University, and was among the first ABT dancers to participate Harvard Business School's “Crossover into Business” program.