Dara Capley

Choreographer

"Dara Nicole Capley (she/her) is based in Somerville, MA, but is originally from Florida, where she received early training with Gloria Gaither before moving on to train under Peter Stark at the Patel Conservatory. In 2015, Dara joined Festival Ballet Providence under the direction of Mihailo Djuric; during this time, she performed works by Yury Yanowsky, Mary Ellen Beaudreau, Christopher Huggins, George Balanchine, José Limón, and others, including originating soloist roles for Viktor Plotnikov, Ty Parmenter, and Katherine Bickford. 

Dara first choreographed in the spring of 2019 for Choreography Project Providence, where she quickly fell in love with this form of expression. In the past year, Dara has been commissioned by Dean College, Abilities Dance Boston, Choreography Project Providence, Revolve Dance Project, as well as being one of the inaugural artists in Midday Movement Series’ Rough Drafts program. Kathryn Boland of Dance Informa reviewed Dara’s piece for Revolve Dance Project, a duet titled Harborage and accompanied by an original score by violinist Josh Knowles, and said, “Capley has a unique approach to making the highly technical something more released, more human, more conducive to honest storytelling.” 

Dara has also choreographed for Mel Fine’s “Like He Gets to Love Her.” A single-take video, filmed in the historic second-hand store Boomerangs in Jamaica Plains, was a thrilling and challenging entry into film work. Mel Fine brought Dara back to choreograph and co-direct with Stephanie Houton for the music video for their song “BF” released in April 2024. Stephanie and Dara collaborated again and co-directed the music video for James McCarthy’s “Dancing with a Shadow” released in March 2024.  

Currently, Dara performs with Abilities Dance Boston, Partnering Lab, and various freelance projects, including a recent show by Jessi Stegall at the Institute of Contemporary Art. She also teaches with Midday Movement Series, and her ongoing work as an artist is supported financially by the Somerville Arts Council."