Fernando Bujones

Cuban-American ballet prodigy, Fernando Bujones, died from melanoma last week. The New York Times at one time called him "the greatest American classical dancer of his generation." He was 50. His story is in the Orlando Sentinel.

Orlando Sentinel Excerpts:

Fernando Bujones, artistic director of the Orlando Ballet and a Cuban-American ballet prodigy who earned a place among the great classical dancers of the late 20th century, died early Thursday morning in Miami. He was 50.

"Fernando came to Orlando Ballet and took an average local company and made it into a world-class organization," said Tricia Earl, past president of the ballet board. "He was an exceptional gift to the world of dance -- not only as a performer but with the legacy he leaves."

Bujones, who had announced seven weeks ago that he had lung cancer, succumbed to complications from malignant melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer, Orlando Ballet executive director Russell Allen said. "It was a very brief and unexpected battle with melanoma, because they really thought they were battling lung cancer."

He was "the greatest American classical dancer of his generation," wrote New York Times critic Anna Kisselgoff on the occasion of Bujones' 1995 farewell performance with American Ballet Theatre, a company with which he had a more than two-decade association.