Cynthia Dragoni

Cynthia Dragoni is the Founder and Editor of Dance Lens, a multimedia platform where dance meets fashion, history, politics, the other arts, and social evolution. Based in Brooklyn, New York, she has spent 30 years in the arts, beginning her career as a professional ballet dancer before launching Dance Lens approximately four years ago. The platform has grown to reach about a quarter million followers and subscribers, featuring dancers and companies from around the world as well as explorations of how politics and other factors affect artists. Dragoni studied at the University of Pennsylvania and the New School, with her most meaningful training coming from classical ballet at the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet (completed 2002), the Rock School, and Boston Ballet School (completed 2003). She is a member of the International Dance Council under UNESCO. In addition to her editorial responsibilities, which include scheduling content, writing, editing, filming, and interviewing for the platform's podcast and other features, Dragoni is deeply committed to service through the arts. She volunteers with The Flying Carpet, a traveling arts festival that works with refugee and displaced children on the Turkey-Syria border. Dragoni attributes her success to a life of devotion to the arts and advises young women entering the field to stay true to themselves at all costs. She identifies the lack of accessible arts education as a primary challenge in her industry.