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Jacqulyn Buglisi

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Jacqulyn Buglisi
Born20th century
New York City, New York, United States
Alma materPerforming Arts HS NYC
Occupation(s)Choreographer, artistic director, dancer, educator, and founder
Awards2020 Bessie Award
WebsiteBuglisi Dance Theatre Table of Silence

Jacqulyn Buglisi is an American choreographer, artistic director, dancer, and educator.[1] In 1993, she co-founded the Buglisi Dance Theatre with Terese Capucilli, Christine Dakin and Donlin Foreman.[2]

Choreography

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Buglisi primarily choreographs ballet pieces and has created a repertoire of over eighty pieces.[3] Her choreography has been presented at venues across the United States, including:

Internationally, her work has been featured at the Melbourne International Festival (State Theatre); International Dance Week in Prague; Sadler's Wells Theatre in London; Rovereto Festival in Italy; and other venues across the Czech Republic, Japan, France, and Israel.[4]

In a 2001 review for Dance Magazine, dance critic Lynn Garafola wrote, "Buglisi is a rarity in today's world, a woman who delights in the many splendid forms of female being. Probably no woman, other than Graham, has plumbed such emotional depths choreographically."[5] Reviewing "Under the Buttonwood Tree", choreographed for Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Alastair Macaulay of The New York Times remarked, "Cecil B. DeMille would have been proud."[6]

Buglisi has collaborated with Venezuelan painter and filmmaker Jacobo Borges on works including Rain (music by Glen Velez), "Sand" (music by Philip Glass), and "Blue Cathedral" (music by Jennifer Higdon). She has also worked with composer Jack Mehler.[7]

Table of Silence Project 9/11

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Buglisi is the co-creator, with Italian visual artist Rosella Vasta, of the "Table of Silence Project 9/11," a large-scale public tribute and ritual performance presented annually on September 11 at Lincoln Center since 2011.[8][9][10] The free performance was a ritual and call to action for peace. Lincoln Center live-streamed the tribute via YouTube.[11][12]

Site-specific versions of the "Table of Silence" have also been presented at Syracuse University's Pan Am 103 Remembrance Wall, during the company’s NYSCA residency; in Perugia and Assisi, Italy; and at UC Santa Barbara to commemorate the May 23, 2014, Isla Vista shooting.[13]

Buglisi’s company repertoire is archived at the Jerome Robbins Dance Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Dancer

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Jacqulyn Buglisi in performance

Buglisi was associated with the Martha Graham Dance Company for over 30 years, including 12 years as a principal dancer. During that time, she performed leading roles in numerous works by Graham, including:

  • The Three Marys in El Penitente
  • Andromache in Cortege of Eagles
  • The Warrior in Seraphic Dialogue
  • The Lament in Acts of Light
  • The Girl in Yellow in Diversion of Angels
  • Leader of the Chorus and Jocasta in Night Journey
  • Creusa in Cave of the Heart
  • The Spectator in Every Soul is a Circus
  • and a role created for her by Graham in Tangled Night

She performed in tribute to Graham during the CBS-televised Kennedy Center Honors, and was featured in the PBS special "An Evening of Dance and Conversation with Martha Graham".[14][15]

Buglisi also worked to preserve early modern dance. Coached by Jane Sherman, she performed solos by Ruth St. Denis at venues including Jacob's Pillow and the Lyon Biennale de la Danse. She appeared in the documentaries "Trailblazers of American Modern Dance" and "The Spirit of Denishawn," which highlight early 20th-century pioneers of American modern dance.[16]

Educator

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Buglisi has been commissioned by The Juilliard School's Emerging Modern Master's Series, Ailey/Fordham University B.F.A. Program, the University of Richmond, California State University/Long Beach, George Mason University, Purchase Conservatory of Dance, Interlochen Center for the Arts, the State Ballet College of Oslo, Oklahoma Arts Institute, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Boston Conservatory of Music, Randolph-Macon College and National Dance Institute, among others.[17]

In 1970, Buglisi founded the first school of contemporary dance for the community of Spoleto, Italy, and was the Master Artist-in-Residence at the Atlantic Center for the Arts.[18] She taught for the Dance Aspen Festival from 1990 to 1995, the Julio Bocca Center in Argentina, the Victoria College in Melbourne in 1999, and the Chautauqua Institution and Festival from 1995 to 2005.[citation needed]

As a resident teacher in New York City, she has been chairperson of the Modern Department at The Ailey School, served on the faculties of The Juilliard School from 1991 to 2005, The Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance since 1977, and Ballet Hispanico School of Dance. Buglisi guest teaches at the LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts (alumna) and instructs workshops at Steps on Broadway and Peridance Capezio Center.[citation needed]

She was named honorary chair for the Marymount Manhattan College 2005 Gala and served as a panelist for both the Heinz Family Foundation and the New Jersey State Council for the Arts. Buglisi holds creative and educational residencies at Kaatsbaan International Dance Center, Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts-Institute, SUNY Purchase, California State University, Long Beach, George Mason University, University of Richmond, The Mahayfee Theater Class Act in FSU at Tallahassee, Petersburg Florida, and Syracuse University.[19]

Buglisi served on the Dance/USA's Board of Trustees as Chair of the Artistic Directors' Council from 2010 to 2013.[20]

Accolades

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Buglisi's awards and honors include the American Dance Guild Award for Artistic Excellence, the Italian International Lifetime Achievement Award 2016, the Fiorello LaGuardia Award for Excellence in the field of Dance, the 2014 Kaatsbaan International Playing Field Award, the Gertrude Shurr Award for Dance, and Altria Group's 2007 Women Choreographer Initiative Award. As well as grants for new work from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Harkness Foundation for Dance, Howard Gilman Foundation, and The O'Donnell-Green Music & Dance Foundation.[21]

Jacqulyn Buglisi received the Juilliard President’s Medal[22] and the 2021 Bessie’s Awards Special Citation for Table of Silence Project 9/11.[23][24]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Dance Teacher Faculty Bio | Jacqulyn Buglisi | Steps on Broadway". www.stepsnyc.com. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
  2. ^ "Interview with Jacqulyn Buglisi: 30th Anniversary of Buglisi Dance Theatre". L.A. Dance Chronicle. February 19, 2024. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
  3. ^ "ARTISTIC DIRECTOR". Buglisi Dance Theatre. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
  4. ^ "Jacqulyn Buglisi — Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater". Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  5. ^ "Duo Layers The Visual with the Emotional". Dance Magazine. May 2001. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  6. ^ "Grand Leaps on Wall Street, for a Change". The New York Times. May 30, 2008. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  7. ^ "2004 Press". Buglisi Dance Theatre. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
  8. ^ Kourlas, Gia (September 6, 2018). "5 Dance Performances to See in N.Y.C. This Weekend". The New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  9. ^ Barone, Joshua (September 11, 2020). "On the Anniversary of 9/11, Lincoln Center Awakens With Hope". The New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  10. ^ Feldman, Adam. "Table of Silence Project 9/11". Time Out New York. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  11. ^ "Table of Silence Project". Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  12. ^ Fadulu, Lola; McFadden, Alyce (September 11, 2024). "'It's Still Overwhelming': Mourners Across New York City Remember 9/11". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 14, 2025.
  13. ^ "Watch: A Stunning 9/11 Dance Tribute at Lincoln Center". Newsweek. September 10, 2016. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  14. ^ "Jacqulyn Buglisi". Steps on Broadway. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
  15. ^ "Interview with Jacqulyn Buglisi: 30th Anniversary of Buglisi Dance Theatre". LA Dance Chronicle. February 19, 2024. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
  16. ^ "Reviews/Dance; Denishawn Works Are Recreated". The New York Times. March 15, 1994. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
  17. ^ "Jacqulyn Buglisi, Council Chair-Artistic Directors". Dance/USA. Archived from the original on May 21, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  18. ^ "Master Artist-in-Residence Program History". Atlantic Center for the Arts. Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  19. ^ "Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Teacher Bio". Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. Archived from the original on February 23, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  20. ^ "Growing Through Collaboration: Finding Balance in a Shifting Landscape". Dance/USA. 2012. Archived from the original on October 2, 2015. Retrieved November 6, 2012.
  21. ^ "Who's Who in the Company". Buglisi Dance Theatre. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  22. ^ Escoyne, Courtney (September 1, 2022). "News of Note: What You Might Have Missed in August 2022". Dance Magazine. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  23. ^ "2020 Honorees". The Bessies. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  24. ^ "DANCE NEWS: The Bessies Celebrated Artists and Arts Workers at the 36th Annual New York Dance and Performance Awards in a Virtual Ceremony". www.dance-enthusiast.com. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
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