Taryn Kaschock Russell
Reflecting on a 30-year career, first as a performing dance artist, then teacher, choreographer, director, curator, producer and an arts administrator; I recognize a continued curiosity and desire for knowledge expansion. I self-identify as a servant leader dedicated to facilitating the missions and visions of the organizations I work for. I have spent the duration of my professional life pursuing artistic evolution, initially my own and then assisting others to find theirs. My journey, both in performance and pedagogy, has led me to advocate for the broadening of access and opportunities within the dance world and beyond.
My entry into artistic leadership began after a twelve-year international performing career with the Joffrey Ballet and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago as the Director of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s second company: HS2. I spent five rewarding seasons mentoring the contemporary company of rotating early-career artists and simultaneously deepened my passion for teaching. Over the past two decades, I have enjoyed being a company teacher for Abraham in Motion, the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Límon Dance Company, Ballet Hispanico, Ballet BC, HopeBoykinDance, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and a frequent company teacher for both the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Gibney Company during their home seasons in New York.
Between 2014 and 2019, I taught as a lecturer for Conservatory of Dance, SUNY Purchase and as full time faculty member of The Juilliard School. My leadership journey continued while at Juilliard as I additionally served as both the Associate Director of the Dance Division, 2016 - 2019, and as the Acting Artistic Director during the 2017-18 school year.
Photo by Todd Rosenberg
My pedagogical practice is grounded in curiosity, empathy, and rigor - an approach that values the dancer as both thinker and mover. As I transitioned from the role of student into the role of teacher, I carried with me my own unique physical journey that was neither linear nor previously charted. As a dancer with severe scoliosis, diagnosed at the age of 11, my anatomy would never achieve the correct position as defined in ballet and in codified modern techniques. My internal architecture was off-center and would remain so for the duration of my professional career. Having this challenge enabled me to draw inspiration outside of static renderings of skeletons, tendons, and muscles and led me to discover movement pathways through energetic lines of imagery. Technique, for me, functions as a living conversation between history and innovation, between structure and imagination. My intention in each studio that I enter is to scaffold technical rigor for the dancers while encouraging creative freedom.
After holding the positions of both Associate and Acting Artistic Director for the Dance Division at the Juilliard School, I departed to assume the Directorship of the Harkness Dance Center at the 92nd Street Y, NY (92NY). During my tenure as the Harkness Dance Center Director, I oversaw all aspects of dance at 92NY. In the fall of 2021 under my curation and directorship, the 92NY launched the Harkness Mainstage Series, bringing a year-long dance series to the Kaufmann Concert Hall stage (where Alvin Ailey premiered Revelations in 1960) for the first time in over 50 years. I also created a mid-pandemic online opportunity, the Future Dance Festival, connecting emerging choreographers with established industry leaders and company directors. The festival grew to include live New York City performances and to introduce the works of over 80 choreographers from 6 continents to prominent industry leaders from Ballet Hispanico, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, RUBBERBAND, AIM by Kyle Abraham, the Paul Taylor Dance Company, the Limón Dance Company, the Martha Graham Dance Company, the Alvin Ailey School and the Executive Director of Works & Process. At 92NY, I served as the forward-facing spokesperson for all artistic and dance development programming in addition to identifying and building external relationships to support mission-driven initiatives.
With a desire to build something tangible to contribute towards a newly imagined landscape of support in the arts, I departed my position at the 92nd Street Y to further invest in my own vision in 2023. Today, I am the Founding Director of ArtsOrb, an emerging organization that advocates for and supports artists as they transition from early success to more sustainable futures. In addition to this work, I am a member of the Artistic Advisory Board for MOVE[NYC] and the Advisory Council for the Misty Copeland Foundation (MCF), two organizations whose missions I am passionate about - as they serve to provide greater access and opportunity for the next generation, diversifying our dance field. I have also been an active member of the Advisory Board for Back to Healing since 2019, which provides positive empowerment and community for individuals living with scoliosis.