Biography

Cynthia Harvey was born on May 17, 1957. She is an actress, known for The Nutcracker (1977), Don Quixote (Kitri's Wedding), a Ballet in Three Acts (1984) and Live from Lincoln Center (1976). She has been married to Christopher Murphy since 1990. They have one child.

In May 2016, she became Artistic Director of American Ballet Theatre Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School.

She danced with Rudolph Nureyev, who called her "America's Prima Ballerina Assolutta".

She began her dance training at age eight with Christine Walton in Novato, California.

('What was it like working with Mikhail Baryshnikov on his production of 'Don Quixote''): "He was not only Baryshnikov the star, but he was also my boss - he was directing the company. So every day was like an audition. You knew that he had the power to keep you or not keep you. We had minimal conversations, but that's the way he danced as well. It was to the point, nothing extra. But then when you got on stage, you had all his attention. It was all about the standard and keeping that level high. He never put himself out there to be the commodity. He did what he did with a great deal of integrity, and it was always about being at the highest level possible. And that, for me, is the biggest lesson I could have had. Of course it spoiled me, because now I look at other things with a point of view that is a bit warped to a high standard".