Jacqulyn Buglisi

In her four-decade long career as a choreographer, artistic director, master teacher, and advocate, Jacqulyn Buglisi has made an indelible impact on the field of dance. She performed worldwide with the Martha Graham Dance Company (MGDC) as a principal dancer. As the artistic director and choreographer of Buglisi Dance Theatre, she is known for imagistic dances that use heroic archetypes as a primary source. Her works, archived at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, have been commissioned and presented by The Joyce Theater, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, MGDC, Jacob’s Pillow, The Kennedy Center, North Carolina Dance Theatre, The Juilliard School, Richmond Ballet, UC Santa Barbara, SUNY Purchase, Vail Dance Festival, Chautauqua, NY Flamenco, and the Melbourne and Prague International Festivals, among others. Buglisi is Chair of the Graham Department at The Ailey School, where she has been a member of the faculty since 1988. As a master teacher of the Graham technique for 45 years, she has served on the faculties of The Juilliard School, The Martha Graham School, and New York City’s famed High School of Performing Arts (alumna). She also leads educational residencies throughout the United States. Her honors include a 2024 Martha Hill Mid-Career Award, the 2022 Juilliard President’s Medal, a 2020 Bessie Award Special Citation, Council Chair on Dance/USA’s Board of Trustees, National Endowment for the Arts Choreographer Fellowships, the Italian International Lifetime Achievement Award, the Kaatsbaan International Playing Field Award, the Fiorello LaGuardia Award for Excellence in Dance, the American Dance Guild Award, Altria’s Women Choreographer Initiative Award, and proclamations from Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio for uniting the community through the Table of Silence Project 9/11, a performance ritual for peace performed annually on September 11 by over 150 dancers at Lincoln Center.