George De La Pena

George de la Peña is an American ballet dancer, actor, choreographer and teacher who trained as a concert pianist before turning to ballet at New York City's High School for the Performing Arts. He graduated from the School of American Ballet and joined American Ballet Theatre in the 1970s, rising to soloist and performing works by Mikhail Baryshnikov and Jerome Robbins. His acting break came as Vaslav Nijinsky in Herbert Ross's Nijinsky (1980), and he was afterward often cast in Russian roles. His film credits include Brain Donors (1992) and Kuffs (1992), as well as Personal Best (1982), Mighty Aphrodite (1995), One Last Dance (2003) and The Dust Factory. On Broadway he appeared in Woman of the Year, On Your Toes, The Red Shoes, which brought a Drama Desk nomination, and Chronicle of a Death Foretold. He has taught at California Institute of the Arts and Connecticut College, and he leads the dance department at the University of Iowa.