About John Carrafa

New York, NY

John Carrafa (CBA ’15) directs and choreographs for stage, film and television.  He is currently series choreographer for the new Fox tv show Empire, as well as ABC’S Nashville, Transparent on Amazon Prime, The Comedians on FX and The Knick on Cinemax.  For the stage he is a two time Tony nominee for the Broadway productions of Urinetown and Into the Woods and has received the Obie, Lucille Lortel, Dora Award plus Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Award Nominations.  He’s choreographed over 30 films, including The Polar Express for which he received the 2004 Choreography Media Honors for his work with motion capture technology, The Thomas Crown Affair, and recently If I Stay. He received the 2012 World Dance Award for his work in feature film. He wrote and directed the 2015 film Carla and Charlie, and his new musical Dummy is being developed for film and stage.

Concerto for Double String Orchestra

While at the Center, Carrafa’s project focused on creating an original classical ballet to Sir Michael Tippett’s Concerto for Double String Orchestra. This piece was composed during a time of tremendous political upheaval just prior to the outbreak of WW II. It was also a time of tremendous personal conflict and change for the composer. The complexity of the work and the interplay between 2 orchestras seem especially suited to a narrative about the complexity of the times we are living in today.