Lakey Evans-Pe˜na

Lakey Evans-Peña is an award-winning educator, director, and leader in dance training, known for her expertise in Horton technique, curriculum design, and artist development. She is the 2025 recipient of the National Dance Education Organization’s Outstanding Leadership in Higher Education Award and currently serves as Associate Director and curriculum co-author of the Ailey Teacher Certification Program, where she helped design the inaugural 32-week Ailey Horton Technique certification. She is also a longtime faculty member at The Ailey School and an advisor for the Ailey/Fordham BFA Program.

A former Ailey II company member and Rehearsal Director (2021–23), Lakey has restaged works by Alvin Ailey and coached repertory by William Forsythe, Francesca Harper, Andrea Miller, Robert Battle, Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish, and Yannick LeBrun. She has taught extensively across higher education—including NYU, Marymount Manhattan College, Montclair State University, and Hollins University—and has also worked with leading dance organizations such as the American Dance Festival, Ballet Hispánico, Peridance, and STEPS on Broadway

Lakey is a national and international presenter, panelist, and master teacher, with recent engagements at the Whitney Museum, Detroit’s Wright Museum, the Library of Congress, NYU Steinhardt, and multiple National Dance Education Organization Conferences. She has adjudicated for ACDA and taught contemporary technique for the Prix de Lausanne (2023–24). 

She is the founder and former Executive and Artistic Director of the Williamsburg Movement & Arts Center and WRArts in Brooklyn, organizations dedicated to accessible, community-centered arts education. She holds an MFA from Montclair State University, a BFA from the University of the Arts, and a Women’s Leadership Certificate from the Yale School of Management.