Gloria Estefan
Kenny Ortega has had a 25+ year work relationship with Gloria Estefan, a Grammy Award-winning Cuban-born singer and songwriter. She is in the top 100 best selling music artists with over 90 million albums sold worldwide. She has won seven Grammy Awards, placing her among the most successful crossover performers in Latin music to date. She was awarded "Person of the Year" at the Latin Grammy Awards in a ceremony aired in November 2008, in recognition of her twenty-five year singing career.
Kenny helped choreograph the video for one of Estefan’s famous songs "The Rhythm is Gonna Get You" when she was part of the band The Miami Sound Machine (1987-1988).
Kenny then went on to choreograph her other music videos such as "Coming Out of the Dark" (1991). This is the first single released after Estefan’s tragic accident when an 18-wheeler rammed her "Get on Your Feet" tour bus, nearly causing the singer’s death. It is also the first song that Estefan performed publicly after recovering. The song is inspired by the near-fatal accident and also is dedicated to Emilio Estefan, Jr., Gloria’s husband.
Kenny was the director/stage choreographer for Estefan’s 2003 Live & UnWrapped seven-day concert show at The Colosseum at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, which were all sold out performances. Backed by her 23-piece band known as the Miami Sound Machine, this performance is truly one-of-a-kind. Among the highlights of this performance is the Miami Sound Machine’s engaging multimedia experience, which features dozens of percussionists and dancers on stage and among the audience, and a specially- designed video projected on The Colosseum’s giant screen. The success of the show catapulted Estefan’s six concert tour Live & Rewrapped which hit most of the major U.S. cities.
