Michael Jarett is an associate professor and dance designer for the UNLV Department of Dance. He joined the faculty in 2018 and teaches primarily in the Dance Production and Management program. Previously he was the lighting designer/dance technical director for the Department of Dance and Choreography at Virginia Commonwealth University for nine years. Jarett received his MFA in theater design from Brandeis University and B.A. in theater from the University of Richmond.

He has designed lighting for many choreographers and dance companies including A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, Amaranth Arts, Agua Dulce Dance Theater, BODYTRAFFIC, Camille A. Brown and Dancers, Dance Iquail!, Thang Dao Dance Company, FDANCE, Leah Glenn Dance Theatre, Ground Zero Dance, Starr Foster Dance, We Are Artists, and VON HOWARD PROJECT. He has been the Production/Lighting Director for five American College Dance Association (ACDA) regional conferences and has recreated five of his lighting designs for the National College Dance Festival. He has received three awards for Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Design from the Richmond Theater Critics Circle, one award for Best Lighting Design from the Broadway World Awards, and also received the 2021 Charles Vanda Award for Excellence in the Arts from the UNLV College of Fine Arts. He tours as the Technical Director for the renowned Los Angeles-based dance company BODYTRAFFIC.

Jarett’s lighting designs have been seen in New York at The Joyce, Theatre Row, Theater for the New City, Dance Theater Workshop, Pregones Theater, the Ailey Citigroup Theater; regionally at 5th Wall Theatre, Arundel Barn Playhouse, Berkshire Theater Festival, Cadence Theatre Company, Cape Rep Theatre, Dogtown Dance Theatre, Emerald City Opera, Firehouse Theater, Florida Studio Theatre, Jewish Family Theatre, Laguna Dance Festival, Mercury Theatre Company, Playhouse on Park, Quill Theatre, Reagle Players, Richmond Shakes, Richmond Triangle Players, Riverside Center for the Performing Arts, TheaterLAB, Trinity Star Arts Council, Virginia Musical Theater, West End Assembly of God; educationally at Brandeis Theater Company, College of William and Mary, Denver School for the Arts, James Madison University, Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School, School of the Performing Arts in the Richmond Community (SPARC), TheatreVCU, UNLV Dance, University of Richmond, VCU Dance; and internationally in Scotland, Bulgaria, and Canada.