Byrd was dance instructor at the California Institute of the Arts from 1976 through 1982, a period when other notable colleagues taught there, including Cristyne Elizabeth Lawson (born 1935) (Dean), Larry A. Attaway "(né" Larry Amos Attaway; born 1949), Rebecca Bobele (1946–1995), Gloria Bowen, Mia Slavenska (1916–2002), Tina Yuan (born 1947), and Sandra Neels.