Kenny Ortega Movies and Career Information

Kenneth John "Kenny" Ortega (born April 18, 1950) is an American producer, director, and choreographer. He is known for directing the High School Musical trilogy and Michael Jackson's This Is It concert tour. Ortega was born in Palo Alto, California, the son of Madeline, a waitress, and Octavio Ortega, a factory worker at Redwood City. His grandparents were Spanish. Initially known for working with dancer and choreographer Gene Kelly on the film Xanadu, Ortega went on to choreographing the dance for the Menudo video "Hold Me", as well as the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, and has won awards for choreography in music videos, such as Madonna's "Material Girl". Ortega directed Billy Squier's "Rock Me Tonite" video. Together with Michael Jackson, he created and designed the Dangerous World Tour 1992-1993 and the HIStory World Tour 1996-1997. He choreographed major events such as Super Bowl XXX, the 72nd Academy Awards, the 1996 Summer Olympics (Atlanta) and the 2002 Winter Olympics (Salt Lake City). In addition, Ortega has directed and choreographed High School Musical, High School Musical 2, High School Musical 3: Senior Year, and was choreographer of the The Cheetah Girls 2. In 2008 Ortega