Former longtime Department of Theatre Arts faculty member Vergiu Cornea passed away on Friday, Dec. 2, in Ithaca. He was 96.Former longtime Department of Theatre Arts faculty member Vergiu Cornea passed away on Friday, Dec. 2, in Ithaca. He was 96.
Cornea was the first instructor of dance at the college, where he taught from 1957 to 1979. His legacy as a teacher is treasured by his former students, who nominated him to receive the 2008 James J. Whalen Meritorious Service Award from the Ithaca College Alumni Association.
Born in Romania in 1914, Cornea knew from a young age that he wanted to dance. He studied at the Royal Academy of Art and after graduating moved to Berlin, the European center for everything new in dance. He shaped a distinguished career as first dancer of the Berlin Comic Opera and ballet master of the Hamburg State Opera. He also danced in films, including “The Red Shoes.”
Cornea moved to Ithaca in 1956, and when the college asked him to choreograph “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and “The King and I,” his distinguished career at IC began. He also became the founding artistic director of the Ithaca Ballet.
“Prince of the Dance,” a 2006 article from the “Ithaca College Quarterly” (now “ICView”) details Cornea’s fascinating life story and how he inspired his students to artistic excellence both by teaching and example.
While no formal services are scheduled, his friends and former students will gather at Taughannock Falls in the spring to honor his memory.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20111206132506681