FERNANDO BUJONES
Name: Fernando Bujones
Born: 9 March 1955
Died: 10 November 2005
Fernando Bujones (March 9, 1955 - November 10, 2005) was a Cuban-American ballet
dancer.
Born in Miami, Florida to Cuban parents, Bujones is regarded as one of the
finest male dancers of the 20th century and hailed as the greatest American male
dancer of his generation.
Bujones' first formal ballet classes were in Alicia Alonso's Cuban National
Ballet school for about a year and a half. In 1967 he won a scholarship to the
School of American Ballet, the official school of the New York City Ballet
Company. He studied there for about five years; his teachers were some of the
world’s premier ballet instructors, such as Stanley Williams, André Eglevsky,
and José Imendez, his private coach.
He joined the American Ballet Theatre, one of the world's preeminent dance
companies, in 1972. By the following year he became a soloist, and in 1974 a
Principal Dancer where, at 19, he was not only one of the youngest principal
dancers in the world, but the youngest principal male dancer in ABT's history.
It was during that period that Mikhail Baryshnikov defected from the Soviet
Union and joined ABT in 1974. They worked together as dancers for six years,
after which Bujones worked under Baryshnikov's artistic direction.
Throughout his 30 year dancing career he performed as a guest artist in 34
countries and with more than 60 companies including such luminary ones like
American Ballet Theatre, the Royal Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, the Paris Opera,
the Royal Danish Ballet, La Scala of Milano, the Vienna State Opera Ballet, the
Australian Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, Boston Ballet and others. He
has partnered many of the 20th century's celebrated ballerinas such as Dame
Margot Fonteyn, Natalia Makarova, Carla Fracci, Cynthia Gregory, Marcia Haydee,
Gelsey Kirkland, and Marianna Tcherkassky.
Just before his death, Bujones staged Slavonic Elements for the Ballet Ensemble
of Texas, a pre-professional company in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
He is buried at Caballero Rivero Woodlawn North Park Cemetery and Mausoleum.
Name: Fernando Bujones
Born: 9 March 1955
Died: 10 November 2005
Fernando Bujones (March 9, 1955 - November 10, 2005) was a Cuban-American ballet
dancer.
Born in Miami, Florida to Cuban parents, Bujones is regarded as one of the
finest male dancers of the 20th century and hailed as the greatest American male
dancer of his generation.
Bujones' first formal ballet classes were in Alicia Alonso's Cuban National
Ballet school for about a year and a half. In 1967 he won a scholarship to the
School of American Ballet, the official school of the New York City Ballet
Company. He studied there for about five years; his teachers were some of the
world’s premier ballet instructors, such as Stanley Williams, André Eglevsky,
and José Imendez, his private coach.
He joined the American Ballet Theatre, one of the world's preeminent dance
companies, in 1972. By the following year he became a soloist, and in 1974 a
Principal Dancer where, at 19, he was not only one of the youngest principal
dancers in the world, but the youngest principal male dancer in ABT's history.
It was during that period that Mikhail Baryshnikov defected from the Soviet
Union and joined ABT in 1974. They worked together as dancers for six years,
after which Bujones worked under Baryshnikov's artistic direction.
Throughout his 30 year dancing career he performed as a guest artist in 34
countries and with more than 60 companies including such luminary ones like
American Ballet Theatre, the Royal Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, the Paris Opera,
the Royal Danish Ballet, La Scala of Milano, the Vienna State Opera Ballet, the
Australian Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, Boston Ballet and others. He
has partnered many of the 20th century's celebrated ballerinas such as Dame
Margot Fonteyn, Natalia Makarova, Carla Fracci, Cynthia Gregory, Marcia Haydee,
Gelsey Kirkland, and Marianna Tcherkassky.
Just before his death, Bujones staged Slavonic Elements for the Ballet Ensemble
of Texas, a pre-professional company in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
He is buried at Caballero Rivero Woodlawn North Park Cemetery and Mausoleum.