Iyun Ashani Harrison (artistic director & choreographer) is a dance maker, educator, and executive director of Ballet Ashani. Born in Saint Andrew, Jamaica, Iyun first trained in acting, classical ballet, modern technique, and Jamaican folk dance. He graduated from the Juilliard School (BFA) and Hollins University (MFA). Harrison danced with the Dance Theatre of Harlem under the artistic direction of Arthur Mitchell. At the Dance Theatre of Harlem, he developed a love for neo-classical ballet and dancing choreography by George Balanchine, Glen Tetley, Michael Smuin, and Billy Wilson. This experience profoundly influenced Iyun's movement aesthetic and laid Ballet Ashani's foundation. Iyun's professional credits also include Ballet Hispanico, Buglisi Dance Theatre, Ailey II, National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica, and guest appearances with Connecticut Ballet, Flint Institute of Music, Collage Dance Collective, Seattle Dance Project, and St. Louis Black Repertory Theater. With these companies, he danced choreography by Jirí Kylián, José Limón, Paul Taylor, Alvin Ailey, Lar Lubovitch, Donald Byrd, Edwaard Liang, Talley Beatty, and George Faison. Iyun's television credits include PBS' Setting the Stage 2007, NBC's 20th Hispanic Heritage Awards, PBS' Who's Dancin' Now? – Arts Education in Your Community and The South Bank Show in England.

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A precursor to Ballet Ashani, Iyun founded and served as the executive director and resident choreographer for Ashani Dances (2011 – 2018). The Seattle Times wrote of Harrison, "Ashani Dances showcases an artist of diverse talents with sophisticated musical tastes and an understanding of how to use a bare stage to full effect." Most recently (2019), Iyun moved his company to Durham, NC rebranding it Ballet Ashani – A Contemporary Ballet. Iyun's choreography has been commissioned by the Juilliard Dance Ensemble, Ailey School, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Collage Dance Collective, Men in Dance, American Dance Festival, Boost Dance Festival, University of Florida, Henderson State University, Pomona College, Goucher College, Webster University, Cornish College of the Arts, Jamaica School of Dance, and University of the West Indies at Cave Hill, Barbados. Iyun has held several academic positions, including professorships with Cornish College of the Arts, Goucher College, Webster University, and Pomona College. In addition, he has taught on the faculties of Pacific Northwest Ballet, Peabody Conservatory, The Ailey School, and Maryland Youth Ballet. Iyun and Dr. Kate Mattingly are the co-editors of Antiracist Ballet Teaching, a forthcoming text for Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. Iyun will premiere Giovanni's Room, a ballet adaptation of James Baldwin's novel, on September 8 & 9, 2023, at Duke University's von der Heyden Studio Theater.