About

Cecilia Whalen is an NYC-based dancer, choreographer, and writer. She is a graduate of the Martha Graham School and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Cecilia has performed professionally with the Martha Graham Center, the Merce Cunningham Trust, Liz Gerring Dance Company, and Jonah Bokaer Choreography. Cecilia is a 2025 Residency Artist at the Baryshnikov Arts Center. 

 

Her choreography has been performed at numerous venues around New York City including The Tank, Dixon Place, the Martha Graham Studio Theater, the Spark Theatre Festival, and the Roosevelt Island Visual Arts Association gallery. In 2024, she was invited to present work as Movement Migration Dance Company's first emerging choreographer in residence in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she presented original work alongside a program of Martha Graham and José Limón company veterans, and led master classes for the community. In 2024, Cecilia presented scholarly writing about her choreography, "5 by e.e. cummings," for academics at the Louisville Conference on Literature, and was invited to present this piece at the inaugural Nossrat Yassini Poetry Festival at the University of New Hampshire. Her latest work, The Erie Canal Project, which  commemorates the canal's bicentennial, will be developed during her residency at the Baryshnikov Arts Center and presented across New York State in 2025. 

 

Her work is inspired by a wide range of interests, including literature, visual art, and a diverse array of music. Her writing can be found in various publications, including Dance Magazine, Commonweal Magazine, and Fjord Review.