Cherylyn Lavagnino

Cherylyn Lavagnino earned an MFA in Dance under the mentorship of Lawrence Rhodes from New York University’s (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts, as well as a BA in Philosophy from the University of Southern California. Lavagnino’s professional dance career spanned worldwide as a soloist with the Pennsylvania Ballet, a principal dancer with Arizona Ballet Theatre, and a principal dancer with Ballet del Espacio in Mexico City under the direction of Michel Descombey. She has performed a range of classical repertoire and contemporary work by choreographers including George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, José Limón, John Butler, Hans Van Manen, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Margo Sappington, and Tere O’Connor. The diversity of these experiences has informed the dialogue between classical and contemporary in her work with Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance.

Ms. Lavagnino is an Alpert Award nominee for choreography as well as a recipient of a space grant residency from the Baryshnikov Arts Center. She has had successful commissions at Princeton University, Intermezzo Dance, Indianapolis City Ballet, Southern Methodist University, University of Utah, North Carolina School of the Arts, and Repertory Dance Theatre.

Lavagnino served as Chair of the Dance Department at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts from 2006–2014 and as a full-time faculty member from 1987–2022. In recognition of her superior work, she won NYU’s prestigious David Payne Carter Award for Excellence in Teaching (2003) and was selected for a Global Research Institute grant for travel and research in Prague (2018). Lavagnino served as Visiting Professor of Dance at the University of Utah for the 2021–2022 academic year. She teaches professional ballet in NYC and internationally; she is honored to teach company class for A.I.M by Kyle Abraham. She has traveled frequently to conduct workshops in Tokyo, Seoul, Prague, and for the Beijing Dance Academy.

Lavagnino continues her Feldenkrais practice with Scott Fraser.