Yo-el Cassell (Resident Choreographer Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Movement Teacher)

Yo-el has performed and worked with The Paul Taylor Dance Company, Pearl Lang Dance Theater, Rob Marshall, Hubbard Street Dance, The American Mime Theater, Scott Ellis, Heidi Latsky Dance Theater, The Virginia Opera, Spencer/Colton Dance, and Julie Taymor, as well as the PBS Broadcast of Shining Time Station and the motion picture, What Alice Found.  He has also appeared in the PBS Broadcast of Anatomy of a Ballet and Rob Marshall’s Memoirs of a Geisha. He was involved in the Broadway production of Pinocchio (Geppetto and Son), appearing as the title character, a role for which he received a 2008 Tony Award. He is also well known to Boston Audiences for his performance in Anthony Williams’ Urban Nutcracker.

A prolific choreographer and teacher, he has presented his choreographic images in and outside of New York City including Dance Theater Workshop, Tarrytown Music Hall, The Helsinki Dance Festival, St. Mark’s Church, Joyce Soho, The Walnut Hill School of The Arts, The Boston Opera Collaborative, The Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, The Lyric Stage of Boston, Symphony Space, The Nantucket Dreamland Theater and Skidmore College, where he was a guest artist/teacher in residence for four years.

He has also created work for Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. He is the artistic Director of YC Movement Theater, a fusionist dance theater ensemble, and is on the faculty at the Boston Ballet School. His teaching stresses the importance of creating a well-rounded dancer as artist, exploring the importance of combining solid technique with an innate sense of artistry, drawing influence from all aspects of the arts. Yo-el is a graduate of The Boston Conservatory.