Orlando Pena: director and Faculty
Owner / Artistic Director
- 2024 -presentDunedin~ Rotarian
- 2024-present Artist and Residence at Academie da Vinci, Dunden, Fl
- 1997-2020 - Artistic Director/Choreographer at Ovations Dance Academy Inc., Bohemia, NY
- 2013-2020 - Artist in Residence at East Woods School
- Principal Dancer (Soloist) Windermere Ballet Theatre
- Touring Companies: A Chorus Line, Music Man, Oklahoma, Andrew Webber's Starlight Express - Bochum, Germany
- Member of The Actors Equity Association
- Committee Member at Patchogue Theater
- Board Member of The Brookhaven Arts Council and Humanities
- Honoree of Patchogue Village Contributor of the Arts
- Sachem School District, NY
Orlando Peña's Complete bio
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. Pena has trained and guided students who have been accepted to The Vail International Dance Festival, The Rock School in Pennsylvania, American Ballet Theatre of Alabama and Bermuda, USDAN, Alvin Ailey, The Boston Ballet, American Academy of Ballet, The Joffrey School, and the Orlando Ballet. His students can be seen on both Broadway and National Broadway Tours, cruise ships, national commercials, and HBO movies in featured roles.
Ovations Dance Repertory Company established a reputation in the tri-state area for the pre-professional quality of musical theatre productions. Since 1997, it produced over 20 musicals in addition to the yearly Nutcracker Suite productions, all under the direction of Mr. Peña.
Most recently, 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, who’s meaningful mission is to bring happiness to both children and adults who are battling cancer in the forms of gifts, granting wish requests, and much more. Mr. Peña has served as a volunteer of The Patchogue Theater Committee as well as a Board Member of The Brookhaven Arts Council and Humanities.
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 on Long Island to bring performing arts into the schools within the district.
During the Covid-19 closure in New York, Mr. Peña made a decision that it was time to be closer to his family in Tampa. The universe 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.
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. Come meet him and get to know him for yourself!
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. Pena has trained and guided students who have been accepted to The Vail International Dance Festival, The Rock School in Pennsylvania, American Ballet Theatre of Alabama and Bermuda, USDAN, Alvin Ailey, The Boston Ballet, American Academy of Ballet, The Joffrey School, and the Orlando Ballet. His students can be seen on both Broadway and National Broadway Tours, cruise ships, national commercials, and HBO movies in featured roles.
Ovations Dance Repertory Company established a reputation in the tri-state area for the pre-professional quality of musical theatre productions. Since 1997, it produced over 20 musicals in addition to the yearly Nutcracker Suite productions, all under the direction of Mr. Peña.
Most recently, 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, who’s meaningful mission is to bring happiness to both children and adults who are battling cancer in the forms of gifts, granting wish requests, and much more. Mr. Peña has served as a volunteer of The Patchogue Theater Committee as well as a Board Member of The Brookhaven Arts Council and Humanities.
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 on Long Island to bring performing arts into the schools within the district.
During the Covid-19 closure in New York, Mr. Peña made a decision that it was time to be closer to his family in Tampa. The universe 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.
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. Come meet him and get to know him for yourself!
Ovations Staff and Guest Artist:
Katie Kunselman : Katie Kunselman describes herself as a versatile and hard working dancer with lots of drive and dedication towards her work. Kunselman began dancing at the age of nine and has extensive training in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern, and Contemporary dance. Recently, Kunselman earned a BFA degree in Modern Dance performance at the University of South Florida. While training in her college years, she became exposed to different modern techniques and had the privilege of working with Guest Choreographers that visited the University in her time there. Some of the notable people Kunselman has worked with include Stephanie Martinez, Marc Brew, and Kate Weare, as well as performing in faculty works. In 2022, Kunselman had the opportunity to travel to Miami, FL with the Arts4All Program which consisted of performing with and assisting disabled dancers in a performance and masterclass setting. Kunselman also had the opportunity to participate in the Paris Abroad Program in the Summer of 2023 where she learned styles of African Dance, elements of William Forsythe, and many other techniques within Master Classes. Her leadership skills are evidenced through her participation in the Dance Education Organization Board, where she held positions as Historian, Junior Vice President, and President in her senior year.
Junie Marsh (Ballet) is a Caribbean-born, California-raised, dance teaching artist, wife and mother. She holds a BFA in dance choreography from Arizona State University. She has taught technique classes for the past 16 years in New York including ballet, movement therapy, ballroom,. She is the business owner of Enhance Your Dance, instructing private lessons for weddings, and a certified breath work practitioner. Her career as a performer lead her to working with companies such as Delfos Danza Contemporanea of Mazatlan, Pilobolus Dance Theater, Kennedy Dancers, Kathleen Dyer with KDNY, and Vissi Dance theater, touring abroad. She's excited to dance a grow with the Tampa community.
Carissa Smith began her training in 2009 at Americas' Ballet School. She grew up with an established education of classical ballet and eventually was also taught in contemporary and modern dance at ABS.
She took part in a multitude of classical and neo-classical productions and danced in the ABS' modern ensemble. Within 2022 she joined Tampa City Ballet as a Trainee, where she took part in various productions ranging from performing the Dying Swan in Candlelight to starring as Alice in Alice in Wonderland to experimenting in numerous contemporary works. In the summers of 2022-24 she danced with Dutch National Ballet Academy, Scapino Ballet in the Netherlands and P.A.R.T.S in Belgium and gained a worldly view on dance.
In the 23/24 season Carissa became a full time dancer with Tampa City Ballet as well as teacher at Tampa City Ballet School and Ovations Dance Academy Of Tampa.
Guest Artist: Kenny Michae Murray:
Guest Artist: Kenny Michae Murray: