John Selya
- Actor
John Selya was born and grew up in New York City. His dance career
began at age 10, after seeing his sister perform in "The Nutcracker."
He was accepted into the School of American Ballet where he trained for
4 years. At age 14, John decided to take a break from ballet. Two years
later, he regained his yearn to dance, and rejoined SAB. In 1988, John
was hired by Mikhail Baryshnikov, then artistic director of American
Ballet Theatre. It was there that Twyla Tharp discovered John and began
casting him in her ballets. During his 11 years at American Ballet
Theatre, he performed in many ballets including "Coppelia", "Don
Quixote" , and "Le Corsaire", and choreographed two ballets, "Jack and
Jill", and "Moon Dance." John also appeared as a dancer in Woody
Allen's 1996 movie "Everyone Says I Love You." In 2000, John joined
Twyla Tharp Dance. In 2002, he made his Broadway debut in the Twyla
Tharp/Billy Joel musical "Movin' Out." John played the lead role of
Eddie, the Long Island mechanic turned Vietnam vet. John received the
2003 TDF/Astaire and Theater World awards and was nominated for Tony
and Drama Desk awards for his performance in "Movin' Out." Movin' Out
closed in December of 2005. In September 2006, John returned to
Broadway, once again working with Twyla Tharp, where he played Lucibeal
in The Times They Are A-Changin'.