Fernando Bujones

One of the world's greatest male ballet dancers, Fernando Bujones was born in Miami, Florida. His early ballet training began at age eight at the school of the famous Cuban ballerina Alicia Alonso in Havana. Later, he received a scholarship to George Balanchine's School of American Ballet in New York. Bujones 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—at 18, he was one of the youngest principal dancers in the world. He appeared as a guest artist with various major ballet companies, including the Boston Ballet, Royal Ballet, the Rome Opera Ballet, the Vienna State Opera Ballet, the Stuttgart Ballet, and the Paris Opera Ballet. He left American Ballet theater in 1985, and then held various guest artist and teaching positions as well as directorships. In 2000, he returned to his home state, and became artistic director of the Southern Ballet Theatre in Orlando, Florida.