Since 2009, the National Center for Performing Arts (NCPA) has been inviting celebraed ballet dancers to present their most popular repertoire.

It has become an annual outing for many ballet fans – a rare chance to see the bewitching glamour of both classical and modern ballet and all its flexible movements, deft leaps and breathtaking swirls.

This weekend, at the Third International Ballet Gala of the NCPA, 12 dancers from American Ballet Theater, UK’s Royal Ballet, Paris National Ballet, StaatsBallet Berlin, National Ballet in Canada and the National Ballet of China, will take the stage in turn to perform classics like Swan Lake, The Corsair and Coppelia, as well as pioneering modern works.

Among ballet’s most celebrated dancers, Angel Corella remains in peak demand.

But these days, the 35-year-old principal dancer with American Ballet Theater (ABT) spends a lot of time with his own company: Corella Ballet Castilla y Leon.

Corella began his company in 2001. It took seven years of casting and rehearsals before it was ready for stage in 2008, a debut that revived classical ballet in Spain.

The last classical company in Spain was National Spanish Dance Company, which went modern 22 years ago when Nacho Duato, a modern ballet dancer and choreographer, took over the role of artistic director.

“Duato is a great choreographer and has done a wonderful job with the company. But he is not a classical choreographer and he had never done classical ballet in his life,” Corella says. “To go from classical to modern is much easier than to go from modern to classical. Once you lose the classical technique, it is hard to bring it back.”

But running a dance company is asking for trouble.

As the artistic director and principal dancer in his own company, Corella’s work extends far outside his profession. He tries to lobby the government to increase the company budget, but often is left to pay out of pocket.

While his energy is entirely devoted to making his company the finest, he is always available when ABT needs him.

Corella joined ABT as a soloist in 1995 and was promoted to principal dancer in less than a year. “I was very lucky and not everyone has the same luck,” he says.

As part of the NCPA gala, Corella will perform two programs with ABT.

The first, Stanton Welch’s We Got it Good, is a Jazz solo created especially for him for the Kings of the Dance tour in 2006, showing his charisma and technique of swift swirling.