Lavagnino’s Triptych
Early in her career, NYU associate arts professor and former department head Cherylyn Lavagnino took a four-year hiatus from dance to pursue a different career path. When she came back to the studio, she wasn’t sure she still had what it takes to dance professionally. She found the encouragement she needed in former Royal Ballet dancer and revered teacher Stanley Holden’s class in Los Angeles.
“I remember when I first started back, I would be very consistent for several weeks and then just lose faith that I could actually do this. He took me aside and said, ‘I understand what you’re going through, but you just need to get here. If you can just show up and get back into your love of dancing, you can have a career.’ If I had not met him at that moment in my life, I probably would not have returned to dance.”
Lavagnino premieres her new work Veiled at Jack Crystal Theater at NYU Tisch School of the Arts tonight at 7:30 pm.
Photo by Charles Roussel, courtesy of Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance
