Fernandez, Royes, 1945-1980

Royes Emanuel Fernandez was born July 15, 1929, in New Orleans, Louisiana. His parents, Manuel Paul Fernandez (a jeweler) and Francoise Blanchine Fernandez, were of Spanish and French descent respectively. He had an older sister, Jeanne.

Fernandez began his ballet training at age eight with Lelia Haller in New Orleans. He performed with the New Orleans Opera Ballet in 1944. During the summer of 1945 he was in New York studying at the School of American Ballet.

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