Derrick Yanford began his formal training in a local studio of his hometown Southwick, Massachusetts, where he studied ballet, jazz, tap, and acrobatics with his teacher, Brenda Barna. After years of training, Derrick went on to win many national dance titles and competitions, including Mr. Dance of Connecticut, America’s Male Dancer of the Year, and most honorably, Mr. Dance of America 1995.
After furthering his dance education at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Derrick began his professional career and has had the pleasure of performing with Ballet Hispanico of New York, The Joffrey Concert Dancers, Northern Connecticut Ballet, Koresh Dance Company, and A.S.H. Contemporary. Additional performance credits include the first national tours of “Footloose,” and “A Few Good Men Dancing,” the European Tours of “Evita” and “West Side Story,” Walt Disney World, Radio City Music Hall’s Christmas Spectacular, and the World Premiere of the Opera “Le Cid,” starring Placido Domingo.
Derrick has gained recognition as a choreographer, and has had his work commissioned by ABC Television for the Boscov’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Sunoco’s Welcome America’s 4th of July Parade, the 76er’s Dance Team, and the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Millennium Kick-Off, to name a few. Derrick currently lives in New York City, and freelances as a choreographer, master class teacher, and adjudicator for major dance organizations throughout the United States and Canada.