Preview

Kenny Ortega

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
688 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Kenny Ortega
2nd period



Kenny Ortega

Kenny Ortega was born on April 18, 1950. He is quite a big name in Hollywood, having worked with many A-list stars in the thirty he has been a chorographer. He has choreographed for music videos, concert tours, and full length films. His wide varieties of styles and abilities have made him vary successful, even from a young age.
Kenny Ortega started involving himself in the arts at thirteen, acting in various plays and musicals, such as Oliver, throughout his childhood he continued to better himself and increase his skills. Later, in his local town he began working with bands and directing small productions. It was while handling a band, Tubes, that Cher discovered him, and offered him the challenge of creating and choreographing a full scale tour for her. Hollywood would never be the same.
Ortega’s Most Famous achievements are of his film choreography. Ortega was the mastermind behind the academy award winning film, Dirty Dancing. Dirty Dancing was a low budget film that launched the careers of Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey. Dirty Dancing has become a franchise with Broadway productions, Television series, and a possible remake scheduled to begin production in late 2010. Perhaps the most powerful partnership is that of Kenny Ortega and Michael Jackson. While Michael Jackson is a notary choreographer, Kenny had the ultimate say. Ortega made stage adjustments, dance modifications, and worked tirelessly to put together a perfectly structured concert. Ortega’s ambitions carried him through four full length world tours! Ortega loved the challenge of choreographing for a live audience who has one point of view, and Directing for a film audience that can see the dancers at many heights and angles. His play with lights, and filming styles piece together a very enjoyable work of art! This was a great struggle, as Ortega choreographed for Michael’s “This is it tour”, and then had to alter the footage to put together a film of what

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Together Murphy and Bonachela share the same passion and love for Contemporary Dance and both set the same goal to create compositions that emphasize their fantasies, dream, feelings and emotions through robust movement. Both artists have similar styles in dance, however differences between the two exist.…

    • 1401 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Jose Alfredo Jimenez

    • 391 Words
    • 2 Pages

    and following this in 1948 for the first time on the radio station XEX-AM and months…

    • 391 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Alvin Ailey’s movement style has been shaped and moulded constantly as he moved through his life. Whether it was personal experiences or key dancers he worked with, each individual story is told through his works and tells the story of Ailey’s life.…

    • 953 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    During his time owning Limón Dance Company, José Limón choreographed some of the most recognisable masterpieces of the time, including his signature piece The Moor’s Pavane (1949) and Ode to the Dance (1954). The Limón Dance Company soon became a ‘landmark of American Dance’ and their dances were considered modern dance…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    4. He first got involved in filmmaking when he was about eight years old and studied special effects and make-up with SFX artist Dick Smith. He participated in the cult series La Hora Marcada. He spent ten years as a special effects make-up designer and formed his own company, Necropia. He also co-founded the Guadalajara International Film Festival. Later on in his directing career, he formed his own production company, the Tequila Gang.…

    • 1484 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    To some, the name Harry Belafonte is only known by his famous song “The Banana Boat Song” (Better known as Day-O) but he has accomplished more in his lifetime than most people could ever dream. Belafonte was born in 1927 in New York to a poor family. As a child, he had to make the move between America and Jamaica more than once. From his humble beginnings, Harry Belafonte was able to grow into not only a highly regarded musician and actor, but a powerful activist, taking a stand on several controversial issues through his lifetime.…

    • 1268 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Don Campbell

    • 399 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Have you ever wonder who made the lock-it move in hip hop? That would be Don Campbell, because of his successful creation of the move his name was referred as Don Campbelock. He was creative from his early years as a kid until college was when he discovered hip hop. Then he gets recognition. And how time went by.…

    • 399 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Bob Fosse

    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The legendary Bob Fosse began dancing at a very young age. He began at burlesque shows and watching strippers at the strip clubs nearby. He always saw himself living a life of dance and fame, so he moved to New York where his career took off. He went from choreographing small parts, so having his own Broadway shows and movies. The different stages in his life led him to some many ups and downs, but that did not stop him from creating more masterpieces. Bob Fosse won multiple awards for his movies and plays, and it is all in thanks to hardships that helped him create the Bob Fosse dance style. Not many people could be said to have transformed the history of musical theater. The impact that Fosse had on the industry can still be felt today. Bob Fosse formed his career and dance style from his life. While Fosse had a very particular style, it would not have grown into what it is now if it weren’t for the ups and downs of his life. Because Fosse was born into a vaudevillian family, naturally he was meant to be in the show business. He used his dancing growing up, not to only for fun, but to gain attention from friends and family. From there he moved on to bigger and better things, such as choreographing at the young age of 13 and then first choreographing for a movie at the age of 26. The physical limitations that he had related him more with the eccentric dancers of the 1930’s and 40’s.Once he became popular in the business, Fosse started experimenting with drugs and practicing promiscuity. During this time, his style went from a more high energy dance, to a sexier, burlesque style. Once this style blew up, Fosse was on a roll, creating plays and even winning awards for his work. Fosse’s interest in dance influenced all of his work, and he used that interest to become involved in every aspect of stage and film production. In this research, one will learn how Fosse’s recognizable dance style came to be.…

    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    George Lucas

    • 2067 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Lucas was born in Modesto, California, on May 14, 1944. As an adolescent who, as he says, "barely squeaked through high school," Lucas aspired to be an auto racer. He changed his mind about a racing career, however, when a near-fatal accident crushed his lungs and sent him to the hospital for three months just days before his high school graduation. The experience changed Lucas. "I realized that I'd been living my life so close to the edge for so long," he says. "That's when I decided to go straight, to become a better student, to try to do something with myself."…

    • 2067 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    He even exhibited his dance moves and synchronizes every step with his backup dancers against his competitor Anthony Mackie. His perfect rendition was just very timely for the one-hour holiday special.…

    • 383 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Michael Jackson, as great of a dancer as he was, had surprisingly no dance training in his career. He was completely self-taught and worked very much in isolation when it came to perfecting many of his famous…

    • 474 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Freestyle History

    • 260 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Fun Facts & Famous People;Many people dance free style. One person that danced freestyle is a man named Thomas Johnson. He also goes by the name “Tommy the Clown.”Tommy the clown was the original inventor of freestyle in 1993. He invented “ Clowning” “krumping”and hip hop.”The clowning part is easy to understand because his name is Tommy the Clown. Another person that danced freestyle is someone everyone know His name is “Michael Jackson.” He was born August 29 1958 he died in June 25, 2009. The reason why Michael Jackson was so famous is because of his amazing dance moves and vocal skills. Jackson came up with a variety of dance moves such as the “moon walk” and a “tornado spin then by balancing on his tippy poes.”…

    • 260 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    From the time he began his career to his untimely death, Michael Jackson will be known as one of the best entertainers of all time. He is most noted for his exhilarating live concerts and performances that left his fans screaming for more. Michael Jackson set the standard for future Super Bowl Halftime Shows when he debuted in 1993 with his performance of ‘Heal the World’ where 3,500 local children participated in his uplifting message of love and humanity. In 1987, Jackson began his “Bad World Tour” listing 123 concerts in 15 countries and as a result became known as the biggest and most successful tour of all time. As Jackson set the standard for future artists to incorporate theatrics and expression in their performances, he always felt the responsibility to give his fans a show that appealed to their five senses. Not only were live performances a staple in the life of Jackson, but he is well known for fundamental changes to the world of music video. He was a music pioneer who never stopped pushing for what he believed in. He fought for equality in race relations, ending global poverty, and the incorporation of dance expression through his videos. The synergy that Jackson’s “Thriller” and “Beat It” videos brought to the music culture was foreshadowed by racial prejudice until record sales reflected people’s excitement about the “video virus.” Thriller came about just as MTV was emerging and was his first big step towards his music video era. “[Jackson] made music videos that were movies and changed the genre of what a music video was. He was able to open that…

    • 1362 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Rita Moreno's Life

    • 537 Words
    • 3 Pages

    As I was beginning a small career in the entertainment business, my mother was my source of encouragement. She inspired me to continue in the entertainment business because she knew that this was an opportunity of a life time. By the time I was eleven, I began using my voice in Spanish-language version of American films. Acting was becoming clear to me that it was my new calling and I cherished it more than singing and dancing. Then I received my first Broadway role at age thirteen where I was passing eleven and looking as if I was nine. I always looked young for my age. The Broadway drama I stared in was called Skydrift. Shortly after my appearance in the Broadway show, I was contacted by Hollywood talent scouts. The scout informed me that when the time was right he would notify me.…

    • 537 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Dance Choreography

    • 1487 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Although most scholars simply define it as the art of designing and arranging dance, American ballet icon George Balanchine distinguished dance choreography as “an expression of time and space, using the control of movement and gesture to communicate,” (Anderson 5). This definition puts emphasis on the rigid structure and body control required to successfully produce a piece of choreography, an idea not uncommon in the ballet community (Conoley-Paladino). Like Balanchine, modern dance icon Merce Cunningham defined dance choreography as “an art in space and time.” However, in contrast, he stated that “the object of the dancer is to obliterate” that art, drawing on the importance of…

    • 1487 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays