Alumni

John Carrafa is a two-time Tony-nominated and Emmy-nominated choreographer and director. His choreography appears in more than 160 episodes of television, 28 feature films, and nine Broadway productions—including the groundbreaking Urinetown—as well as countless Off-Broadway and regional theater productions and workshops.

On screen, recent projects range from Only Murders in the Building (Hulu) and The Gilded Age (HBO) to Daredevil: Born Again (Disney+), The Penguin (HBO), and A Complete Unknown (2024). and two new features: Song Sung Blue (Hugh Jackman, Kate Hudson) and The Dink (Jake Johnson).

Known for drawing truthful, story-driven movement from both non-dancers and those experienced, Carrafa has helped countless actors from Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks to Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway find expression through motion.

In the theater, Carrafa has worked on projects at Lincoln Center Theater, The Public, Roundabout, Playwrights Horizons, The Goodman, ACT, and The Kennedy Center, collaborating with writers James Lapine, Tom Stoppard, Sarah Ruhl, Terrence McNally, Wendy Wasserstein, and Paula Vogel, and with composers Stephen Sondheim, Michael John LaChiusa, and Tom Kitt. He worked closely with Mr. Sondheim on the Broadway revivals of A Little Night Music and Into the Woods.

As a director, his credits span Broadway (Good Vibrations), television (Nashville), immersive work (Cirque Berzerk), and Academy—winner of Best Musical and Best Director at the Daegu International Musical Theatre Festival.

His current project, Chosin, is an original dance-theatre work.. Blending movement, text, and music, it examines how truth is constructed in wartime and how the stories we tell shape collective memory.

Carrafa’s other honors include an Obie Award, Lucille Lortel Award, Dora Award, Media Choreography Honors, The World Dance Award for Feature Film, and nominations from the Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, and Jefferson Awards.