Dom Orejudos - aka Etienne/Stephen
(July 1, 1933 - September 24, 1991) U.S.A.
Erotic artist, choreographer and dancer
Domingo Orejudos who used the names Etienne and Stephen was born in Chicago. While growing up in Chicago, Dom made his first appearance with the Illinois Ballet Company at the age of sixteen. From that age on, Dom devoted his talent and energies to the artistic expression of dancing. He danced roles, wrote and choreographed ballets and won nation-wide recognition and approval for his Emmy Award winning performances on public television. He was a dancer and choreographer with the Illinois Ballet Company for 15 years, a respected businessman, a major figure in founding the International Mr. Leather pageants.
An accomplished dancer and choreographer, Dom was well recognized nationally as a master of ballet. The recipient of three separate grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, over a dozen of his works have been presented on PBS television earning three Emmy awards. His ballet "The Charioteer" was created to inaugurate the first color broadcast of the Chicago PBS television station. Resident choreographer and principal dancer with the Illinois Ballet Company for nine years, Dom also earned critical acclaim choreographing ballets for almost twenty different ballet companies around the nation,. He was a judge for the Southeastern Division of the American Ballet Association. Dom's stage credits also include dance roles in the touring companies of West Side Story, The King and I, and Song of Norway.
Along with the development of his ballet and dance, Dom established a new and unique style in artistic expression with his depiction of the male model. He opened Kris Studios, with his partner Chuck Renslow, and published male photographic studies which were featured in many of the early magazines available in the gay community. His artistic talents in drawing were recognized all over the modern world under the pseudonym "Etienne". Dom shared his talent through philanthropic activities and the donation of his work to charitable endeavors. His art was contributed to many AIDS service providers and other organizations for fundraising purposes.
For much of the gay community, and the leather community in particular, Dom will be remembered for his erotica. His exaggerated muscular imagery was easily recognizable and has been featured in dozens of publications, club logos and print advertising over a thirty year period. Dom's murals covered the walls of Chicago's Gold Coast Leather Bar, which earned an international reputation by distributing his work throughout the world's leather community in poster form.
A world traveler, Dom was stricken with pneumonia while traveling in a 1987 delegation to China and Tibet. Yielding to a long battle with AIDS, passed from this world at his home in Boulder, Colorado. He was 58 years old.
Sources: http://www.glhalloffame.org/index.pl?item=24&todo=view_item
http://www.artatlarge.com/pages/etienne/ETBIO.htm
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