Cynthia Harvey
Cynthia Harvey's style marked her as one of the most versatile and valued artists. Ms Harvey danced virtually every ballerina role with American Ballet Theatre and had the distinction of being invited by Sir Anthony Dowell to be a principal ballerina of the Royal Ballet-the first American dancer to have that honour. Harvey performed as guest artist with Baryshnikov and Company, Nureyev and Friends, and numerous internationally renowned ballet companies before retiring in 1996.
Ms Harvey appeared as Kitri opposite Mikhail Baryshnikov in his production of Don Quixote, in variations from Paquita and Les Sylphides, (American Ballet Theatre Dances Petipa) and in Natalia Makarova's documentary, “Ballerina”. She featured in British Director, Christopher Nupen's, Channel 4 film titled, “Tchaikowsky's Women” and is also a featured artist in the Fred Weismann documentary on The American Ballet Theatre. She appeared in background dancing scenes in the film The Turning Point.
Co-author of “Physics of Dance & the Pas de Deux”, she has been guest teacher for The Norwegian National Ballet Company where aside from teaching and coaching she helped re-stage a production of The Sleeping Beauty in 2008 and where in 2009 she staged her own complete production of the ballet Giselle. In October 2010, the premiere of her full-length production of The Sleeping Beauty for The Hong Kong Ballet was met with acclaim, and in 2014 Ms Harvey staged a full-length Don Quixote for Singapore Dance Theatre which was named one of the year's best productions by Dance Europe. The Finnish National Ballet premiered her production of Giselle in 2018.
Ms. Harvey retired in May 2022 from the position of Artistic Director of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, the school for American Ballet Theatre, which she led for over six years. Ms. Harvey is in demand as a guest teacher and ballet mistress. She has taught for The American Ballet Theatre, The Australian Ballet, Teatro alla Scala in Milano, The Royal Swedish Ballet and is a regular guest ballet mistress for The Zürich Ballett. the Semperöper Ballett, Dresden, and The Finnish National Ballet. She has also taught periodically at The Royal Ballet School in London as well as the School for the Basel Ballet and was Principal Guest teacher for the English National Ballet School. After serving as a coach, teacher, and president of the jury for the Prix de Lausanne, since 2022, Ms. Harvey now acts as co-host of their livestream.
Ms. Harvey has been on the board of DanceEast, the national agency for dance in England and was a prominent member of the committee that saw major ballet directors and ballet school directors from around the world gather to discuss issues relating to improving life for ballet companies and schools. She stepped down as the standards assessor for The Council for Dance Education and Training in the U.K. in 2010. Co-founder of En Avant Foundation, Ms. Harvey delivered scholarships to prodigious students and scheduled coaching sessions with prominent artists from the international ballet world. She is a member of the International Council of Dance and is patron for bbodance (formerly British Ballet Organisation), which serves in promoting excellence in dance training internationally.
In June 2019 Ms. Harvey was awarded a cultural award for her contribution to ballet in Brazil and in July 2022, she received the W!SE Inspirational Leadership Award for quality in artistic leadership.