fagan was born in kingston, jamaica to oxford educated s.w. fagan, former chief education officer of jamaica, and louise i. walker. it was a gymnastics class that initially drew his attention to dance early on. while attending excelsior high school, he studied with ivy baxter at the jamaica national dance company and performed at the inauguration of cuban president fidel castro in 1959. fagan was educated at wayne state university in detroit, michigan where he earned a bachelor of arts degree with sights on becoming a psychologist.