Yauri Dalencour is the founder/artistic director of Yauri Dalencour Dance Art & Design, which houses the education initiative EthnodanceologyCreative, and is the C.E.O. of Dancetime Publications. Her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and Bachelor of Arts in International Studies are from Adelphi University, where she minored in African American and ethnic studies with a focus on women’s studies. Her Master of Arts in Dance and Dance Education is from New York University, and her Master of Fine Arts with a performance concentration and new media and design focus in interdisciplinary arts is from Goddard College. She began her doctorate in dance at Temple University, but will be completing her Ph.D. in interdisciplinary studies in humanities and culture at Union University & Institute.

She is a member of the editorial board for Dance Education in Practice and board of directors and Advisory of Awards for the National Dance Education Organization and is the founding member for Camille A Brown and Dancers. Yauri also sits on two other national adjudication panels: one is for professional development scholarships for dancers/dance educators, and the second is for the Ruth Lovell Murray Book Award. The Lovell Murray Book award honors outstanding book-length publications in dance education, recognizing authors advancing the field.

A large part of Yauri’s work is in equity and justice from performance and choreography, research and scholarship and education and teaching. She serves on NDEO’s strategy planning committee focused on implementing and meeting strategic goals for JEDI (justice, equity, diversity and inclusion) efforts. Yauri is certified in Lester Horton Technique through the Alvin Ailey American Dance School, where she also did her early formal dance training. She is currently certifying in Katherine Dunham Technique, working on a collection of 1:1 NFTs based on gesture and dance technique positions, and illustrating a cookbook series for kids highlighting recipes at the intersection of culture and social dance, celebration and cuisine. Yauri is a part of two ongoing exhibitions where she combines dance, installation and new media; her Eloquent Labor exhibition explores motherhood and challenges stereotypes and tropes about Black women dissecting phenomenons of Misogynoir, and Society’s Cage, an outdoor public installation that began on the Washington National Mall, is now on a national tour: stops have included Tulsa, Oklahoma; Oakland, California; Baltimore, Maryland; and Penn State, among others. Society’s Cage tells the story of institutional racism and white supremacy through data science and statistical inputs, sound, lighting, architecture and dance to create an immersive experience for the viewer.

Yauri has performed nationally and internationally, spoken at international conferences on dance, dance education, research and technology and published articles in the space of dance, education and technology. A personal archivist to Katherine Dunham during Dunham’s last year of life, Yauri worked on Dunham’s digital archives with the Library of Congress and also served as an archivist to Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and Alvin Ailey American Dance Foundation. Other projects include her work in the Vaseline commercial with Regina King for Vasline’s American Reborn (#healthequity) and collaborating with organizations where she can bring together art and tech. Concerned with the intersections of the arts, education, culture and technology, Yauri is passionate about using her art — from dance, to illustration, photography, fim and graphic design / digital media — and scholarship to make life better for others. Yauri is a wife and mom and lives in northern Virginia with her family including their dog, Harlem.