Contact Information
dcyrus@arizona.edu
520.621.1301
Duane Cyrus is a professor at the University of Arizona and the director of the School of Dance.
Cyrus is a Bessie Award-nominated performing and creative artist whose work is focused on the confluence of questions and ideas that come from positioning moving bodies in conceptual environments.
He is a two-time North Carolina Arts Council Choreography Fellow, and his work is informed by research into Black American and Caribbean history and culture. As a performer, Cyrus has danced in musical theatre, concert dance, and commercial dance. Including, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Carousel (U.S. tour), The Lion King (original West End production) and the Martha Graham Dance Company. Cyrus creates work in multiple genres including concert dance, musical theatre, contemporary art, and drama. His creative work is iterative and devised to engage a range of communities by being accessible, touchable, and relevant. With a kaleidoscopic background in the arts, Cyrus’ choreographic and directed works fluidly negotiate the physical capabilities and possibilities of the human body in movement.
With a kaleidoscopic background in the arts, Cyrus’ choreography, curations, and directed works fluidly negotiate the physical capabilities and possibilities of the human body in movement and the power of imagery.
Cyrus is the co-author of the photographic book Vital Grace: The Black male Dancer with Joanne Savio. He was a founding member of Theatre of Movement, LLC, a performing and visual art collective that produced trans-disciplinary collaborations and curations. Recently, Cyrus can be seen in the TedX Arizona talk “Body as Text” available on youtube.