Adjunct Professor

Catherine Tharin wears many hats in the dance world – choreographer, teacher, curator, board member and former dancer. Her choreography has been seen on many New York City and tri-state (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut) stages and has been called “compelling” by The New York Times. Her choreography commissions include Washington University, Hope College, and Iona College. She has collaborated with many leading contemporary composers including Marshall Coid, Erik Friedlander, Miki Navazio, Laura Seaton, Hayley Moss and Michael Bellar. As a teacher, she has taught Hawkins-based technique to professional dancers since 1986, and for the past eight years has taught dance composition, choreographic process and upper level modern dance technique/history classes at Iona College, New York.

Catherine’s dance and aesthetic development were primarily formed while dancing as a soloist in the Erick Hawkins Dance Company from 1988 – 1994; Lucia Dlugoszewski music director. Catherine also served as director of the school and rehearsal director. Her dancing was described by The New York Times as “…charming…astounding brazenness…a performance that could not have been bettered,” as well as “…mysterious…an odd beauty…the quiet heart of the dance.” She directs and curates the 92nd Street Y’s Fridays At Noon series where she programs approximately 50 dance artists a year. She sits on the boards of The Field and Dance Theater Workshop and is a member of the Y’s Harkness Dance Center’s Advisory Panel. She graduated from Connecticut College with a BA in Art History and from Columbia University Teachers College with an MA in Dance.