Born and raised in a small town in Massachusetts, Taylor began dancing at her family’s local jazz studio before training in the intensive division of the Boston Ballet School starting at age 6. While in the school she was privileged enough to perform with the company in 7 years of The Nutcracker as well as other ballets, including Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, and Midsummer Night’s Dream.
She moved away from home to attend The Rock School in Philadelphia, PA on scholarship at age 14. In addition to intensive training and performing with Pennsylvania Ballet in Balanchine’s The Nutcracker twice, she completed high school early and graduated at age 16. There she also created & edited the school paper and yearbook. She was awarded the Future Leaders of America Award from the Metrowest Daily News in Massachusetts and the James T. Eastwood Memorial Scholarship from Talent America.
After summers at Boston Ballet and Miami City Ballet, she moved to NYC to attend Marymount Manhattan College (MMC) as a Communication Arts major and to dance at Ballet Academy East (BAE). In her two years at BAE she worked with a diverse range of faculty and guest teachers, including Cynthia Gregory, Nikolaj Hubbe, and Christopher D’Amboise. Her repertoire there included featured roles in Balanchine’s Divertimento No. 15 and Raymonda Variations, Sleeping Beauty Act III, Bournonville’s Napoli, and others. She spent a summer at American Ballet Theater's intensive.
While dancing full time she accelerated through college. In pursuit of a journalism career she interned at Pointe Magazine, Ellen Jacobs Associates (a PR agency for dance companies), Shelter Interiors Magazine, Quick & Simple Magazine (Hearst), and The New Yorker (Conde Nast).
At MMC, she was the Assistant News Editor and Features Editor of the college paper and a contributor to the college magazine. She was inducted into the Lambda Pi Eta Communication Honor Society and the Alpha Sigma Delta Honor Society for Advertising and PR, as well as consistently being on the Dean's List during her 2 1/2 years of undergraduate work.
She graduated magna cum laude with her BA in Communication Arts from MMC in January 2008 at age 19. While attending graduate school that spring, she taught dance at the Richard R. Green High School, wrote for IAG Research, and interned briefly at Barnes & Noble's Sterling Publishing. In December 2008 she received her Masters Degree in Publishing from Pace University at age 20.
In the winter of 2008 & 2009 she danced in the ensemble of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular in NYC as a member of the AGVA Union and appeared as "Mary" in the Nativity scene of the 2010 national commercial (SAG eligible). She has performed professionally with Rebecca Kelly Ballet, Ballet for Young Audiences, Exit 12 Dance Company, Albano Ballet, New America Youth Ballet, and Push Factor Dance Company. She super's for ABT's Metropolitan Opera season and tried her hand at modern dance in a solo by Oren Barnoy for DTW's Studio Series 6-month residency in 2011.
Following 4 years of chronic pain, Taylor had surgery on her Achilles in September 2010. She received an injury support grant from The Dancers' Resource/The Actor's Fund.The recovery process led her to pursue her Pilates mat certification through Pilates Academy International. Also certified in The New York City Ballet Workout, she teaches regularly at Gold's Gym. Sanctuary Pilates, and Synergy Fitness.
In addition to writing freelance for publications including Dance Teacher Magazine, Movmnt, M Life Magazine, and ExploreDance.com, she offers private editorial services, website creation, social media consulting, and publicity assistance.
As a freelance ballet dancer and writer, Taylor has been featured prominently in media outlets including:
The New York Times
The Huffington Post
Vanity Fair Online
Dance Spirit Magazine
Media Bistro
The Kiner Hour Radio Show.
She currently works as office/publicity assistant at The Marino Organization and is assistant director of the Performing in NY Showcases at the Ailey Extension Program. For the 2011-12 season she is dancing with The Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Ballet for Young Audiences, Exit 12 Dance Company, Felice Lesser Dance Theater, and Jeremy McQueen while completing her Pilates reformer certification. She continues to train with master ballet teacher Kat Wildish while pursuing every opportunity - dance, writing, teaching, and otherwise - that comes her way.
