John Selya is a professional dancer and choreographer. Selya was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and trained at the School of American Ballet. He joined the American Ballet Theatre in 1988, where he danced roles such as Birbanto and Lankendem in ''Le Corsaire'', Lead Gypsy in ''Don Quixote'', Head Fakir in ''La Bayadere'', Dr. Coppelius in ''Coppelia'', and an Ugly Stepsister in Ben Stevenson's ''Cinderella''. He choreographed several ballets for the company, including ''Moondance'', ''Jack and Jill'', ''Don't Panic'', ''Turnstile'', and ''Disposition''. In 2000, Selya joined Twyla Tharp Dance. Selya appeared in the 2010

Broadway musical Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

Come Fly Away ''Come Fly Away'' is a dance revue conceived, directed and choreographed by Twyla Tharp, around the songs of Frank Sinatra. The musical, set in a New York City nightclub, follows four couples as they look for love. It premiered on Broadway in M ...

'' in which

Twyla Tharp Twyla Tharp (; born July 1, 1941) is an American dancer, choreographer, and author who lives and works in New York City. In 1966 she formed the company Twyla Tharp Dance. Her work often uses classical music, jazz, and contemporary pop music. Fr ...

choreographed songs sung by Frank Sinatra. He previously appeared in the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

revival of ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also bo ...

'' (2009) as Scranton Slim, in ''

Damn Yankees ''Damn Yankees'' is a 1955 musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., dur ...

'' as Eddie/Mambo Dancer (2008), and in ''The Times They Are A-Changin' ''as Lucibeal (2006). He played the character "Eddie" in the show '' Movin' Out'' for which he received the 2003

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

and

Drama Desk The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fol ...

nominations for Best Male Dancer and Lead Actor in a musical and won the 2003 TDF/Astaire Award for Best Male Dancer in a Musical and the Theater World Award.

Choreography

In the spring of 2008, Selya premiered two works, "Tweaker" and "

La Voix humaine ' (English: ''The Human Voice'') is a forty-minute, one-act opera for soprano and orchestra composed by Francis Poulenc in 1958. The work is based on the play of the same name by Jean Cocteau, who, along with French soprano Denise Duval, worked ...

" (after Cocteau's play) at the

Joyce SoHo The Joyce Theater (“The Joyce") is a 472-seat dance performance venue located in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. The building opened in 1941 as the Elgin Theater, a movie house, and was gut-renovated and reconfigured in 1981-82 to re ...

, where he was awarded a choreographic residency.

References

External links

*
John Selya and Ashley Tuttle: ''Downstage Center'' 2004 interview

American Theatre Wing The American Theatre Wing (the Wing for short) is a New York City–based non-profit organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre", according to its mission statement. Originally known as the Stage Women's War Relief ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Selya, John American male ballet dancers Artists from New York City Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Mae L. Wien Award recipients American Ballet Theatre dancers School of American Ballet alumni Jewish American male actors Theatre World Award winners