We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Cherylyn Lavagnino. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Cherylyn below.

Cherylyn, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Being an artist always involves risk taking. One is constantly putting oneself on the line. In order to make interesting work
an artist must be vulnerable and willing to share aspects of themselves that are deeply personal. Our work is constantly evaluated by others – sometimes appreciative and sometimes otherwise. As a result the goal for me has been to stay
deeply involved in my creative process and to try to push myself past comfort into unknown and often places that cause me to feel insecure. I am willing to do this in order to make a work that I value and is hopefully fresh and compelling to others.

Recently I made a work based on a Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. My collaborator Composer Martin Bresnick kept urging me to take this on despite my resistance. Attempting to create a theater dance based on Shakespeare’s play felt artistically dangerous. I knew I would need to meet exceptional expectations and standards. I often found myself quite uncomfortable in the studio and wondering what the next steps should be. Finding gesture and creating mime-like sections was especially challenging. I did not want these interludes to be pat and obvious. I often internally encouraged myself by repeating ” You have something to offer” so that I would continue to move forward and just see what could happen! In the end the theater dance I created with my composer and dancers was a very satisfying and wonderful process. The majority of the audience members thoroughly enjoyed it. I am deeply grateful that I was challenged to take this on and see it through! And yes making this work kept me up at night a good deal of the time during the creative process. Experiencing anxiety is part of being willing to take artistic risks.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a dance artist with a background most specifically tied to ballet. I trained in Southern California as a child and young adult due to my mom’s interest in and love of dance. Dance became a very centering and nurturing practice for me and continues to serve me in this manner. I entered the profession as a classical ballet dancer and danced both the classics and a great deal of the Balanchine repertory. After a rewarding performance career I found myself fascinated by the choreographic process and entered the Masters Program at in Tisch Dance, New York University to study the craft of choreography and to explore contemporary dance forms.

In 2020 I founded my own contemporary ballet company, Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance – thus beginning a rich and rewarding process as an Artistic Director/Choreographer. Music is always at the core of my creative work and as a result I have built long term relationships with wonderful composers and musicians. I have worked for many years with Composer Scott Killian and more recently with Martin Bresnick. My company is based in New York City and is composed of dancers with strong ballet and contemporary dance training, We perform regularly in the various dance venues throughout the city. Most recently we have begun a relationship with the DiMenna Center for Classical Music which is an ideal space for live music and dance.

I offer engaging dance theater performances to our fan base of dance and music aficionados as well as curious and appreciative audience members. I am very happy to have had a lifetime devoted to dance and the opportunity to develop my craft surrounded by outstanding mentors and gifted artists/collaborators. My work is thoughtful and carefully researched. I take time to develop both the choreographic arc and the performance values for each piece. I am at heart a story teller and I enjoy sharing these moving human episodes with my audience. My goal has been to touch the hearts and minds of those who experience my work. And in the last several years many patrons have expressed how emotionally moved they were by the work.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

As a dance artist for many years, my daily preoccupation with my discipline requires me to concentrate fully. In order to do our work, whether it be taking class, rehearsing, preparing choreographic phrases or conducting research to support one’s creative ideas, one’s full attentive focus is required. Due to this I am able to find a calm and grounded place from which to work and be, on a regular basis.

In this age of social media and technology we are so often disrupted by constant unimportant information. To be able to go into a studio and work deeply with one’s physical, mental and emotional self is an extraordinary experience. I feel very fortunate to have this rich and demanding practice as an anchor to my well-being.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I feel resilience is an important quality for all of us to have. And yet today, it is not a character trait many people possess for many reasons. Possibly, witnessing a world in turmoil with few leaders that inspire confidence in their ability to create positive change has caused people to be less engaged and hopeful. As a result I see less commitment and less resilience
in many young dancers hoping to enter the profession.

As I am from an earlier generation I grew up when resilience was expected of us. As dancers we often experienced
hurtful and what would today be considered crippling criticism. We somehow understood that weathering this professional abuse was something we could move through while gaining our own sense of self as we pursued
our dance careers. I cannot recount the many times it was suggested that I couldn’t achieve this or that in the dance
world. And yet my love for and dedication to my craft in company with the exceptional mentors who guided and affirmed my potential, allowed me to persist. One exceptional mentor, a former Dean of Tisch School of the Arts, gifted her departmental chairs with a guide to positive leadership practices. One simple practice was keeping in mind that each of us have something to offer. How often I have sat uncomfortably in an artistic leadership role and remembered this simple notion and quietly reminded myself that I had something to offer. It is these thoughtful kinds of advice and direction that help us build resilience and a trust in oneself and one’s abilities.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cherylynlavagnino-dance.com
• Instagram: @lavagninodance
• Facebook: Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance
• Linkedin: Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance
• Twitter: Cherylyn Lavagnino (@lavagninodance) / X
• Youtube: Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance

Image Credits

All performance photos in lights and costumes are by John Eng

The studio rehearsal shots are by Andrea Pugliese

My headshot the photographer is unknown

I have permission to use these images and have used them repeatedly over the past year