About the Author

Born in Toronto, Kenny received a BA in English literature from the University of Toronto. Since he constantly argued with his parents, they were certain he would become a lawyer. And he thought so, too. But the Dance Gods took hold after he saw the film West Side Story.

At 18, he began formal dance training in Toronto with David Earle and Patricia Beatty and at the National Ballet School. Following university graduation, he lived in New York City for thirteen years, dancing with the Martha Graham Dance Company and, internationally, with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. He was a rehearsal director for the Graham Company, acted in several plays and performed comedy cabaret with Tony Award recipient Julie Halston.

Back in Toronto, after a season performing with the Stratford Theatre Festival, Kenny became the artistic director of Toronto Dance Theatre (1983 - 1987). He taught for 20 years at both Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University) and the School of Toronto Dance Theatre. He has been a guest teacher in Vancouver, Quebec City, Montreal and Mexico City. In New York, he taught at the schools of the Graham and Ailey companies and at the Juilliard School of Music.

In 1990, he wrote Dance/Life, a book dedicated to emerging professional dance artists. He was a rehearsal director for Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie (2007-2012), directed 20 bi-annual workshops for emerging artists—the Emerging Artist Intensives—and directed Toronto’s GMD teaching program for professional artists from 2011–2021.
 

The Dance Gods: A New York Memoir, the story of Kenny’s 13-year dance life in New York City, came out in 2015.

He began working on his first novel, The Pendant, in January 2021.