Mr. Orlando Peña is the former Artistic Director/ Choreographer of Ovations Dance Academy, Inc. of Bohemia, NY from 1997-2020, and was an Artist in Residence at East Woods School in Oyster Bay, NY for seven years. Additionally, he founded Ovations Dance Repertory Company, a non-profit organization, in 1997.
A member of The Actors Equity Association, Mr. Peña has toured the United States and Europe performing and choreographing with numerous dance companies. His ballet credentials quickly progressed from a corps de ballet to a principal and soloist with The Windermere Ballet Theatre under the direction of the late Sally Hammond.
After the company, he continued touring with A Chorus Line, The Music Man, Oklahoma!, and Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Starlight Express in Bochum, Germany.
Since founding Ovations Dance Academy, Mr. Peña has trained and guided students who have been accepted to American Ballet Theatre, The Boston Ballet, American Academy of Ballet, The Joffrey School, The Rock School in Pennsylvania, USDAN, the Vail International Dance Festival, Alvin Ailey, and the Orlando Ballet. His students can be seen on both Broadway and National Broadway Tours, as well as roles in numerous stage productions, national commercials, and television shows.
Ovations Dance Repertory Company established a reputation in the tri-state area for the pre-professional quality of his productions. Since 1997, it produced over 20 musicals in addition to the yearly Nutcracker Suite productions, all under the direction of Mr. Peña. As Artistic Director of the fashion show for the charity event, “A World of Pink,” Mr. Peña helped raise $100k for breast cancer survivors. Prior to that, he directed and choreographed Did You Talk to Him Today?, which raised $30,000 for local homeless charities. Mr. Peña also directed the Dr. Patrick Dineen Memorial Foundation, whose meaningful mission is to bring happiness to both children and adults who are battling cancer.
In December of 2019, Mr. Peña was honored with a proclamation from Mayor Paul Pontieri of The Village of Patchogue, NY for twenty years of his contribution to the Arts within the community. Mr. Peña has also worked with Sachem School District to bring the Performing Arts to schools on Long Island. During the Covid-19 closure in New York, Mr. Peña made the decision that it was time to be closer to his family in Tampa. God opened a new door for him, and he sold his business and home on Long Island to create a new path in the Sunshine State.
Ovations Dance Academy of Tampa, LLC was established in the summer of 2021. In less than four years, Ovations has become a community name, and has continued his legacy of charity work here in Tampa Bay with organizations like Hope Villages of America and Oldsmar Cares and The Polo Charity Gala. The talent and renown of the Tampa studio continue to grow, with a student currently on Broadway as Young Simba on Broadway and Kenneth Michael Murry in Moulan Rouge national Tour. Matilda as Matilda on Broadway and Kyla Carter in The Sound of Music in the national Tour. This past season his ballet dancers competing at the Youth America Grand Prix regionals next month at the Straz Center.
Orlando is now the Artist in Residence at Academie Da Vinci in Dunedin, helping enhance the charter school experience with Performing Arts curriculum. With his exuberant energy and love for his students and the Arts, it is no wonder why Orlando is highly respected and admired in the industry.
