Artistic Director, ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School
Independent Guest Teacher and Ballet Mistress
Former Principal, American Ballet Theatre and The Royal Ballet

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 also 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.

On DVD, Ms Harvey appears as Kitri opposite Mikhail Baryshnikov in his production of Don Quixote, in a variation from Paquita in Natalia Makarova’s The Ballerina, the Waltz variation in Les Sylphides, and in a variation from Paquita (American Ballet Theatre Dances Petitpa) and, in the documentary, Tchaikovsky’s Women for Britain’s Channel 4. She is also a featured artist in the Fred Weismann documentary on The American Ballet Theatre.

Co-author of Physics of Dance & the Pas de Deux, she has been guest teacher for The Norwegian National Ballet Company where outside of 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.

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 at the Semperöper Ballett, Dresden, and The Royal Ballet of Flanders. She has also taught periodically at The Royal Ballet School in London as well as the School for the Basel Ballet, and as Principal Guest teacher for the English National Ballet School.

As a sought-after teacher and jury member, Miss Harvey has served several competitions, amongst them, The Prix de Lausanne, The Rosetta Mauri, TheTanzolymp, the First International Competition in Sitges, Spain and Dance World Cup Spain.

Miss 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. She is a member of the International Council of Dance.