Cyrah L. Ward (pronounced seer-ah) is a scholar of Black dance aesthetics, a critical race performance theorist, and a conjurer of ritual-based visual and performance art. Her interdisciplinary research seeks innovative ways to privilege the Black Gaze through an autoethnographic approach to staging the mundane. Ward’s work draws from Black oral traditions, digital archives, and lived experiences to create character-driven, embodied performances that honor ancestral knowledge and contemporary realities.

Deeply rooted in the storytelling tradition, Ward’s work rests at the crossroads of sacred ritual, sociopolitical critique, and expressions of Black joy. Her most notable collaboration, “Hoofer’s Memory Lab,” was performed at the New York City Center with tap dancers Brinae Ali and Gerson Lanza. The New York Times described the performance as “reminiscent of baptismal ritual,” a reflection of her ongoing commitment to staging the mundane and creating ritual-based art.

Ward values using dance as a tool for building and gathering community. In doing so, she has performed with the world-renowned Urban Bush Women and collaborated with many community arts organizers, including Cheri Stokes, Nia-Amina Minor, MK Abadoo of MK Arts, and dani tirrell of The Congregation. During her tenure as Assistant Professor of Africanist Practice at San Francisco State University, she publicly presented a new work, “Wishin N’ Washin”, commissioned by Deborah Slater Dance Theatre, which led to her being named a CA$H Dance grant recipient. She was also accepted into the 2025/2026 Dresher Ensemble Artist Residency and the 2025 Jacob’s Pillow Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship.

Ward holds a BFA with distinction in Dance from The Ohio State University and an MFA in Dance from the University of Maryland.