Jerry Opdenaker
Choreographer

Photo by Janine Harris

Jerry Opdenaker comes from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is a graduate from the University of the Arts. During his 22-year dancing career, he worked as a principal company member for ballet companies such as Milwaukee/Pennsylvania Ballet, Kansas City Ballet and Ballet Florida. During the years spent in these Companies, he worked with some of the world’s greatest choreographers in the field of dance. At Ballet Florida he was instrumental in the development, creativity and educational components of STEP Ahead, Ballet Florida’s choreographic workshop. Serving as the Director, he propelled the program into the eyes of the National Endowment for the Arts, which awarded the program the Access to Artistic Excellence twice, and was declared a “Jewel of the Palm Beaches” in 2004. That workshop afforded him the opportunity to express and discover his true passion, choreography. His awarding-winning Coeur de Basque began its life there and has been added to the repertoire of such companies as Ballet Florida, Ballet Gamonet and Milwaukee Ballet. Since then he has been commissioned for new works such as Idyllic Realm and Bliss for Ballet Florida and From a Distant Wind and Bailame for Ballet Gamonet. Mr. Opdenaker had the incredible privilege to participate in the Ballet Builders 2003, New York City Ballet’s 2005 Choreographic Institute and the National Choreographic Initiative 2007 in California. He has also choreographed for the McKnight Foundation in Minnesota, Seanik Arts in Miami, The Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival production of Dead Man’s Cellphone and the Florida Grand Opera’s production of Lakme. He also is very proud to serve as the National Discipline Coordinator of Dance for YoungArts, the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts. He has also developed a new dance company in Palm Beach County called O Dance, which had its inaugural first performance at the Duncan Theatre in February 2010.