Giovanni Ortega is an actor, singer and dancer who currently performs in and around Hollywood (East West Players- "Imelda" as President Marcos, Playwright's Arena- "Conjunto", Will & Company - "The Odyssey", "Bully", Boston Court- "Gilgamesh", Latino Theater Company, American New Musical Theater, Colony and Kirk Douglas Theater - "Dogeaters"). Film credits include: Clint Eastwood's "Letters from Iwo Jima", "Ray of Sunshine" (Newport Beach Film Festival), "Twixter", "Coffee Date", "CSI" and the critically acclaimed NBC series "Heroes". In addition, he has done numerous commercial and voice-over work.
He studied at the University of Illinois (Chicago), where he wrote and directed "Colonial Mentality", a Hip-Hop Theater piece that combined traditional Indian dance with Hip-Hop Music. He also performed his one man show "Ako", the spoken word "Griot Speaks Out" . Thereafter, Giovanni attended Graduate school at the UCLA MFA program in Theater, Film and TV. While in UCLA, he curated musical pieces such as "Felicity is a Cynical Art", "Noche de Cultura", "Carnal Cabaret" and "Corazon Perdido" (Fowler Museum). In addition, he was also a dancer for Do Brasil Dance Co. and Akimbo Dance Project. Giovanni is the founder of the Arts Collaborative MEZÇLAÕ, in which he directed "Rocka in the La La Land of Lights", "Pagbabalik", "Vida y Muerto" and hosts “Noche de Artistas.”
As an educator, he was an instructor at the Asian American Theater Workshop in San Francisco,Youth Academy of Dramatic Arts (YADA) as well as Spectrum Theater, which spans Shakespeare to Hip-Hop Theater at the UCLA Arts workshop. He teaches Hip-Hop Theater at Irving Middle School, Voice and Speech at the Academy of Musical and Dramatic Arts (AMDA), and Spoken Word creative writing for Upward Bound. During the Fall, he goes on a University tour with "Playfair", a one-man show that deals with Diversity and Community.