Alexandra Damiani

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Alexandra Damiani is a French born choreographer, artistic director, and movement specialist who has lived in New York since 1995. Her movement vocabulary combines the sophistication of her early classical training with the edginess and experimentation of contemporary dance. She has brought her expertise to the cinema, commercials, festivals and  stages of international dance venues.

Damiani worked on numerous commercials and film projects including That Part (2017) - a women spoken word dance piece  directed by Mia Sorensen  - Colgate (2016), Warby Parker (2016), Darren Aronofsky's award -winning Black Swan (2010), where she portrayed the role of a ballet mistress alongside Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis, as well as George Nolfi's Adjustment Bureau (2010), where she worked as movement consultant to Benoit Swan Pouffer on his work with Emily Blunt.

Damiani was recently the artistic director of Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, which was described in The New York Times as "possibly the country's most innovative contemporary ballet troupe with an A-list repertoire, and an accent on creation that few companies worldwide can match"-

During her decade-long year tenure at Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, both as ballet master and artistic director, Damiani worked alongside and curated works by the most sought after contemporary dance choreographers in the world.

Damiani acquired an expansive understanding of a wide range of movement languages created by leading contemporary choreographers. She has been invited to re-stage works by Crystal Pite and Jo Stromgren, on dance institution such as Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, The Juilliard School in New York, Grenade compagnie in France. among others.

Damiani is also the artistic director of New York City Winter Intensive,  held at The Juilliard School and produced by New York City Dance Alliance Foundation since 2015. The program is highly selective and offers the dancers from the convention world an insight into the works of international choreographers who are shaping the contemporary dance world today.

A native of France, Damiani received her early training in Classical Ballet at the Geneva Dance Center. She studied privately with Paris Opera teacher Attilio Labis and became the assistant of Patricia Alzetta in Jazz technique. Damiani won first place at the International Dance Competitions in Bordeaux and Marseille, prompting her to move to New York City to study at The Alvin Ailey School in 1995. During her 15-year-career as soloist dancer with Donald Byrd/The Group, Complexions, The Metropolitan Opera Ballet and Les Ballets Jazz of Montreal, she performed extensively  in North America, Europe and Asia.

Combining her rich dance background with an enthusiasm for directing dancers in varying philosophies of movement, Damiani is frequently  invited to conduct matter classes in the U.S and around the world with such dance institutions as The Juilliard School, Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, and Ballet Junior of Geneva, Switzerland. She is also adjunct professor at Pace University, New York, where she teaches movement classes for the Actors' Studio Drama School at Pace University, graduate program, as well as classical Ballet and improvisation classes for the Commercial Dance program, undergraduate.

For many years, Damiani's interest and passion for the ineffable power nestled in the body has driven her to study and teach the ancient sacred movements of qigong, taiji (classical Yang long form) and tai yin Jade Maiden under the guidance of Sat Chuen Hon.

Damiani is the co-founder of Shadow Breaker - an early morning group dance ritual that uses Tai Chi and art to create an inspirational healing experience in New York City.