Bujones, Fernando (b Miami, 9 Mar. 1955; d Miami, 10 Nov. 2005). US dancer. He studied with Alonso in Cuba and at the School of American Ballet (from 1967). He made his professional debut with the Eglevsky Ballet in 1970 and joined American Ballet Theatre in 1972. He won the gold medal at Varna in 1974 (the first American to do so) and became a principal in 1974. He left ABT in 1985 (although he returned in 1990 as a permanent guest artist). His subsequent career as an international guest artist was hugely successful; he appeared with companies in N. and S. America, Europe, and Japan. Grigorovich invited him to dance with the Bolshoi (1987) and he had an ongoing relationship with the Boston Ballet. He appeared in the film The Turning Point (1978). A prodigiously talented dancer, he owed his stardom to his bravura technique and his amazing self-confidence. ‘Baryshnikov has the publicity, I have the talent, ’ he was quoted as saying after winning Varna, an event that coincided with the Russian's much-publicized defection to the West. His rivalry with Baryshnikov at ABT eventually led to his departure from the company. He created roles in Tharp's Bach Partita (1984) and Béjart's Trois études pour Alexandre (1987). He published his autobiography, Fernando Bujones, in Rio de Janeiro in 1984. He made his final appearance with American Ballet Theatre in 1995; following his retirement from the stage he worked as a freelance teacher and choreographer, mainly in the US.

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