George de la Peña

George de la Peña (b. 1955 or 1956 in New York City, New York, U.S.) is an American ballet dancer, musical theatre performer, choreographer, and teacher.

Originally trained as a concert pianist, de la Peña switched to ballet while studying at the High School for the Performing Arts. He joined American Ballet Theatre in the 1970s, rapidly rising to soloist. While at ABT, de la Peña danced in works choreographed by George Balanchine, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Agnes de Mille, Kenneth MacMillan, and Jerome Robbins, among others. By 1985, de la Peña and his then-wife, Rebecca Wright, had both left ABT and relocated to California. (De la Peña and Wright had two children before they separated.)

He and Ms. Wright can both be seen in Baryshnikov's famous production of "The Nutcracker", on television and on DVD.

De la Peña began acting when he was cast as Vaslav Nijinsky in Herbert Ross's film "Nijinsky" (1980), and for some time thereafter he was typecast in Russian roles. (In a 1983 interview in the "New York Times", an exasperated de la Peña, who is of mixed Russian and Argentinian descent, pointed out that producers thought he was not a native English speaker.) He appeared on Broadway in "Woman of the Year", the revival of "On Your Toes", the notorious flop "The Red Shoes" (Drama Desk Award nomination), and "Chronicle of a Death Foretold" (Drama League Award). While living in Los Angeles during the 1980s, he performed in "Cats" and various regional productions. His film and television credits include "Personal Best" (1982), "The Flamingo Kid" (1989), "Mighty Aphrodite" (1995), and guest appearances on shows such as "L.A. Law" and "". Still active as an actor-dancer, he frequently collaborates with the choreographer Martha Clarke. He was last seen in the film "The Dust Factory", with Hayden Panettiere and Armin Mueller-Stahl.

De la Peña has taught at universities across the country, including CalArts, Connecticut College, and the University of Iowa; he also continues to teach for ABT. A director and choreographer for both theatrical works and concert dance, he assisted figure skater Debi Thomas with her routine for the Olympics.

References

* Carol Lawson, "Broadway," "The New York Times" 16 Sept. 1983 Late City Edition: C2.

External links

* [http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?id=75395 Entry at Internet Broadway Database]
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0209340/ Entry at Internet Movie Database]
* [http://www.uiowa.edu/~dance/faculty/delapena.htm Brief biographical sketch]