Krisha Marcanos Goals for Conservatorys Theater Division: Refine, Level Up, Focus Marcano knew her path early in life. Now, as the Conservatory's dean of theater, she's helping others find theirs.
By
Sarah Godcher Murphy
December 10, 2024
Krisha Marcano, dean of theater at Boston Conservatory
Image by S an Alonzo Harris
When she was four years old, Krisha Marcano saw a ballerina for the very first time while watching The Nutcracker on television at her home in Trinidad, and she instantly knew she was going to be a professional dancer. To be clear, she didn't merely think she wanted to be one; she was certain it would happen for her someday. She begged to take ballet lessons, and when her grandmother said no (because lessons were too expensive), she pitched an epic tantrum that became a chapter in Marcano family lore.
Apparently, I threw myself all over the living room, says Marcano, who became Boston Conservatory at Berklee's new dean of theater in July. She simply would not take no for an answer. I don't know what you all need to do, but I'm going to thrash around until you get it together, she recalls thinking at the time.
Her grandmother relented, and Marcano received excellent ballet training in Trinidad until she finished high school. After graduation, there were no signposts pointing her in the direction of professional dancer, and no mentors explaining how to navigate the US educational system. Nevertheless, Marcano knew where she wanted to go next.
I watched her grow from an excited and eager young artist into a commanding presence on the stage, with her natural comedic talent, beautiful voice.
- LaChanze
I was born in New York and my mother was still living in New York, so I knew that once I finished high school that's where I was going-because that's where I was going to be dancing, she says.
Marcano had heard of the city's most prominent dance program, at Juilliard, but had no idea how to apply; however, she did figure out how to enroll in a modern dance class at nearby Queensborough Community College. With 14 years of ballet training under her belt, she was head and shoulders above her less-experienced classmates. The teacher looked at me and said, What are you doing here? Come to my office right after class.' My first class! Marcano says.
The teacher at Queensborough helped Marcano secure an audition for the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College and told her how to take the train to the school's campus in Westchester County. When Marcano was accepted as an undergraduate, she told her mother, I got into a conservatory training program. It's at SUNY Purchase. I don't know anything about any of those things, but we're gonna figure it out.
With this kind of spunk, Marcano was able to carve her own path forward, from SUNY Purchase to two of the most prestigious dance companies in the US, then on to Broadway, and eventually to faculty and staff positions in higher education. She brings a rare breadth of experience to her latest role as dean as well as a contagious energy that is revitalizing the Theater Division.
It was the choreography of Martha Graham that first opened Marcano's eyes to the possibilities of both modern dance and acting. Her studies at SUNY Purchase focused on Graham technique, introducing her to a dance vocabulary-and means of self-expression-unlike anything she had experienced before. For the first time, I found the ability to sing through my body. There was something godlike, euphoric, about doing that in class, she says.
About a year after graduating from SUNY Purchase, Marcano was hired by the Martha Graham Dance Company as the only woman of color in the troupe. Performing Graham's work was a formative experience for Marcano, who saw herself reflected in its impassioned storytelling. Her actual choreography-the work that we got to do-formed who I was as a woman, she says. I got to realize that I don't have to be pretty. I can be destructive. I can give life, and I can take it . That just peeled an onion layer for me, and I was like, Oh my god, there's more.'
Working with the Graham company also tapped into Marcano's theatricality and just blew the walls off, she says. For the first time, she felt like an actor as well as a dancer. After two years with the Graham company, she moved on to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for two more, and then made the leap to musical theater as a dancer in the first national tour of Fosse. Marcano toured the world with that show, from 1999 to 2001, then joined the cast of Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida as a swing. She covered nine different ensemble roles for that production-learning lines, stage positions, dance steps, and vocal parts for each one and filling in for castmates at a moment's notice.
Krisha Marcano
Image by Jane Feldman
She remained with Aida for its entire Broadway run, from 2001 to 2004; as the production neared its end, she became its dance captain, running rehearsals for the company, ensuring quality control, and teaching choreography to new company members. Her job as dance captain was Marcano's first taste of teaching, and she found that what made her a great performer also made her an effective instructor: noticing the details, learning from missteps, and trying to make the show a little better each time.
With each step forward in her performance career, Marcano learned an entirely new set of performance skills. By the time Aida closed, she had distinguished herself as a dancer and ensemble cast member, and she'd become an accomplished singer. Finding new modalities of expression has kept her highly employable, she says; and integrating those modalities has made her a better artist.
When I say that with Graham I found that I could sing throug
North America Stories
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
27/03/2026
At NAB Show 2026, Net Insight will showcase the next evolution of Nimbra Edge, its orchestration and control layer designed to manage live media services across...
27/03/2026
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced powerful new innovations that further elevate the company's sports streaming solution. The advanced capabilities enh...
27/03/2026
Bitmovin, the leading provider of video streaming solutions, today announced significant new capabilities for Player Web X, its next-generation web video player...
27/03/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Czech-based production company CS live has equipped its newest outside broadcast (OB) van with an integrated Riedel i...
27/03/2026
130 Industry Experts Confirmed as Show Celebrates its 10th Anniversary
MPTS, the UK's largest and most influential event for the media, production and tech...
27/03/2026
Grass Valley today announced the successful completion of a major live production deployment with NVP, a leading European media company specializing in live spo...
27/03/2026
Showcases resilient solutions for satellite-to-IP migration, REMI and hybrid live production
Appear ASA (Appear, OSE:APR), a global leader in live production t...
27/03/2026
San Francisco, California, March 2026 - Microsoft Ignite, a major annual conference hosted by Microsoft for developers, IT professionals, partners and business ...
27/03/2026
Clear-Com is proud to highlight its support for worship teams through professional communication solutions, with the deployment of its EQUIP wireless system a...
27/03/2026
Orban Collaborates with Sage on Virtualized EAS Technology Demo
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Sage Alerting Systems (SAS), in cooperation wit...
27/03/2026
Berklee Alums Bring GIANT to Broadway Brian and Dayna Lee BM '13 met and fell in love at Berklee, and now their production companys first Broadway debut i...
26/03/2026
Extron and Audio-Technica have announced that their Design Solutions devices, Ce...
26/03/2026
SPORTEL Asia took place March 24-25 at the Orchard Hotel Singapore, drawing 370 participants representing more than 220 companies from 35 countries. Approximate...
26/03/2026
LTN will demonstrate satellite-to-IP migration solutions for broadcasters, cable networks, MVPDs, and station groups at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2100).
The C-Ban...
26/03/2026
The Seattle Mariners have partnered with Daktronics to install an upgraded outfi...
26/03/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) has awarded National Team Partner status to organizations and individuals across more than 100 countries and territories for the Esp...
26/03/2026
Telestream has announced expanded integration between its Vantage workflow platf...
26/03/2026
FOR-A Corporation has announced a partnership with Nippon TV and NVIDIA to distr...
26/03/2026
CBS Sports and the WNBA have expanded their partnership through a new long-term, multiplatform rights agreement. CBS Sports will feature up to 20 regular-season...
26/03/2026
Zac Brown Band will star in the Sunday Night Baseball show open on NBC and Peacock, NBC Sports announced. The open was filmed at American Family Field, home of ...
26/03/2026
Major League Baseball opens the 2026 season with nationally televised games across multiple media partners. Fans can visit MLB.com/Watch for a complete schedule...
26/03/2026
DIRECTV has announced an agreement to carry nine new MLB-operated team channels, covering the Cincinnati Reds, Detroit Tigers (Detroit SportsNet), Kansas City R...
26/03/2026
Nationals.TV, the Washington Nationals' local broadcast channel, is now avai...
26/03/2026
Starting Thursday, March 26, MLB.TV will be available on the ESPN App, giving fans access to more than 2,000 out-of-market regular season games. Fans can also r...
26/03/2026
By Matt Klein
Hello to everyone reading this - whether you're a current YEP, HPA member, or just YEP-curious. I'm Matt Klein, one of the co-chairs of t...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
28 participating companies, from start-ups to blue-chips, lead the UK Group as part of the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland presence across all the Halls at N...
26/03/2026
Arkona Unveils BLADE//planner and Major Usability Enhancements at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
New graphical configuration tool and...
26/03/2026
Bitfocus showcases complete control at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton March 26, 2026
0 Comments
Continuing development drives advances in security, availa...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
26/03/2026
Nevion introduces powerful new Panel Builder to enhance VideoIPath broadcast con...
26/03/2026
2026 Oscar Nominated Films Powered by Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton March 25, 2026
0 Comments
DaVinci Resolve Studio used on 27 of this year's no...
26/03/2026
Leader to present full suite of advanced Test & Measurement solutions at NAB Sho...
26/03/2026
Boston Conservatory to Present New England and Collegiate Premiere of Groundbrea...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
Have a Wish Worth Dying For? Netflix's First Korean YA Hor...
26/03/2026
Back to All News
The Truthers, Starring Jose Coronado and St phanie Magnin, Pre...
26/03/2026
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...
26/03/2026
That gaming backlog won't clear itself - GeForce NOW is here to help. Stream the latest titles straight from the cloud across a variety of devices.
This we...
25/03/2026
Live match directors Sarah Cheadle (Sky Sports), Rob Levi (TNT Sports), and Andrew Swift (BBC Sport) sit down with the Premier League's Rachel Nightingale t...
25/03/2026
The senior from Upstate New York is manning the mic while also interning for the athletic department's sports-information team
In the live-sports-video ind...
Krisha Marcanos Goals for Conservatorys Theater Division: Refine, Level Up, Focus Marcano knew her path early in life. Now, as the Conservatory's dean of theater, she's helping others find theirs. 
