Fernando Bujones, classical dancer

PRODIGY BECAME BARYSHNIKOV RIVAL

By Adam Bernstein

Washington Post

Fernando Bujones, a prodigy who became one of the leading male classical dancers in international ballet and who once declared, ``Baryshnikov has the publicity, I have the talent,'' died Thursday at a hospital in Miami. He had melanoma. He was 50.

Trained initially by talented relatives, Mr. Bujones was soon scooped up by one of the finest dance schools in New York. At 17, he became the youngest principal dancer in the American Ballet Theatre. Not long after, he danced the romantic work ``Les Sylphides'' with Royal Ballet prima ballerina Margot Fonteyn, becoming one of her youngest partners.