About Me
Kylie Casino is originally from Akron, Ohio, where she trained pre-professionally with Northeast Ohio Dance under Brenda and Christopher Styger and the Dance Institute of The University of Akron under Christina Foise and Andrew Carroll. During her early years, she performed featured roles including Kitri in the Don Quixote Wedding Pas De Deux, Arabian in The Nutcracker and a Firebird in The Snow Maiden. She continued her training with The University of Akron’s dance department, where she was given the opportunity to perform choreography by noted dance professionals, such as Amy Miller’s (of Gibney Dance) Spirare, MaryAnn Black’s (former Broadway professional) Dancin’ and the Falling Girl Solo in Paul Taylor’s Esplanade.
Amidst her dance training, she made her mark in the theatre world, holding featured dancing roles in productions of Pippin and Damn Yankees, and acting as a Storyteller and Older Karana in Island of The Blue Dolphins, as well as serving as a choreographer for productions of Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and The Music Man. She went on to become an original member of the professional modern dance company, R.E.D.real.edge.dance.
After graduating with her BA in Dance and dancing professionally for one year, Kylie realized she wished to continue her education as a teacher and choreographer. She went on to be the youngest in her class to graduate with an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts with a focus in Dance from Goddard College in 2016. Since moving to Columbus in 2014, she's had the pleasure of choreographing and directing for multiple productions for The Columbus Ballet, including The Nutcracker, Coppélia, and collaborations with Schwob Percussion Ensemble, staging her own versions of Paquita, The Firebird and La Boutique fantasque on students from Rising Starz in Auburn, AL and choreographing for multiple productions of East Alabama Community Ballet’s The Nutcracker.
In 2019, Kylie received a LocaL Choice Award nomination for "Favorite Choreographer." She currently teaches at Columbus State University Youth Dance Conservatory and Rising Starz Studios, having multiple students secure spots in pre-professional dance programs and accept awards at Youth American Grand Prix and Universal Ballet Competition. She has also received acclaim for her creation of various dance curriculums and lesson plans. Kylie finds complete fulfillment through teaching and choreographing and looks forward to sharing her love of dance with others.
Artistic Statement
As a choreographer I work towards creating high quality content that a majority of my audience will enjoy, while maintaining my own personal style. Much of my artistic identity stems from my Classical Ballet training. The codified specificities that come from the technique are something I appreciate, but love to put my own spin on. At my core, I am a storyteller; often, I need to have a concrete narrative, idea or emotion in order to create what I believe is my best work. The philosophical outlook of Humanism is also something I am inspired by; I enjoy focusing on human interests and values. Throughout this vein of thought, I am able to connect to my choreography on a deeper level, hopefully leading to a better showcasing of my artistic abilities. I am truly in love with Dance and have been for as long as I can remember. My main goal as an artist is to share that passion with as many people as I can.