Kenny Ortega

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Kenneth Ortega (b. 18 April, 1950) is an Emmy award winning producer, director, and choreographer. Initially known for working with famous dancer/choreographer Gene Kelly, such as on the Olivia Newton-John film Xanadu, Ortega went on to his own fame, choreographing the 1987 classic film Dirty Dancing, and he has won awards for choreography in music videos, such as Madonna's "Material Girl". He has choreographed many major events such as Super Bowl XXX, and multiple Olympics events.

1 Biography
2 Choreography and major projects
3 Productions
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Originally an actor, Ortega started performing at the age of 34. He grew up in Palo Alto, California, and attended Sequoia High School. He was a member of the 1980s band The Tubes, where he helped out as director and choreographer. His career as a world-famous choreographer was launched after one of the Tubes performances, when Cher noticed his work, and invited him to choreograph her upcoming television special. From there he springboard to Olivia Newton-John's film Xanadu, where Ortega was mentored by the great Gene Kelly. He also directed the infamous video for Billy Squier's Rock Me Tonite, which is frequently cited as the single reason for the sudden plummet of the star's career and has been named one of the worst music videos in history.

He choreographed the opening and closing ceremonies of the Atlanta Olympics, and won two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Choreography for his work on the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, where he worked with producer Don Mischer. The Washington Post called it "A stunningly beautiful pageant", and the New York Times referred to it as "an emotional ceremony…that delicately touched on American Patriotism and the international hope for unity."

Also a film director, he directed the musical Newsies about the newsboys' strike of 1899, and Disney's Hocus Pocus which starred Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy and the Disney Channel original movies High School Musical and High School Musical 2 which starred Zac Efron, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman, Ashley Tisdale, and Lucas Grabeel along with The Cheetah Girls 2 starring Raven Symone, Adrienne Bailon, Kiely Williams, and Sabrina Bryan. He has also directed television episodes for such series as the Gilmore Girls, Ally McBeal, and Chicago Hope, and received another Emmy nomination for an episode of Grounded for Life.