1946–1987
Cuban born Jorge Samaniego, dancer and choreographer, started and closed his dance career in Los Angeles. He studied at LA’s American School of Dance on Hollywood Blvd before moving to New York, where he performed with the New York Metropolitan Opera Ballet. In 1977 in NY, he established his own dance company, the Samaniego Dance Gallery.
Samaniego was ballet master and choreographed for the Milwaukee Ballet before joining the Des Moines Ballet in 1978 as its Artistic Director. The company also brought in Kenneth MacDonald as Associate Artistic Director. The two men, professional and personal partners, were together for fourteen years until Samaniego’s death in 1987.
Samaniego returned to Los Angeles in 1982. He reestablished his Dance Gallery, which performed regularly at the Assistance League Playhouse and other LA venues. As Dance Magazine reported, “His annual staging of A Christmas Carol, Peter and the Wolf, and The Nutcracker were holiday favorites in Southern California.”
On Samaniego’s AIDS quilt, which MacDonald created for him, he wrote: “To Jorge Samaniego, my tears, my love, Kenneth.” MacDonald also passed away from HIV/AIDS complications in 1995.