Choreography

Lisa was raised in NYC by a ballet dancer and opera singer and received her early movement training on scholarship at the New York School of Ballet. Always drawn to the expression of the human form, she earned her BA in Theater & Dance from UOP and her MFA in choreography/performance from California Institute of the Arts. 

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As artistic director of her dance company dancefracas, her choreography has been presented in New York City, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area and France.  Lisa was named "Choreographer to Watch'' in Balletanz Magazine and has held Artist Residencies with Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Joyce SoHo, St. Mark’s Church, ODC Theater, CounterPULSE Theater, CHIME Across Borders (with Tere O'Connor), The Garage in SF, as well as a Creative Capital Fellow at Headlands Center for the Arts.

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For 10 years, Lisa was Adjunct Faculty and a Director/Choreographer for A.C.T’s MFA program.  In addition to directing an Original Devised Movement-Theater piece each year with the students, Lisa collaborated as a choreographer and movement director on theatrical productions including Crazy for Country, The Rocky Horror Show, Both Your Houses, CLICKSHARE, Constellations,The Awakening of Spring, Sense and Sensibility, and Blood Wedding. 

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Other collaborations include working with The Wooster Group on Early Shaker Spirituals in the Garage (NYC), as Movement Director for the West Coast premiere of King Charles III at A.C.T.'s Geary Theater, Choreographer for Marin Theatre's critically acclaimed Sally and Tom, with Joanna Haigood on HOME at Commonweal, Christy Funsch's EPOCH at ODC, as director for the site-specific play The Wetlands written by AriDy Nox and performed in the Giacomini Wetlands on the Pt Reyes National Seashore, and with Star Thrower Entertainment (IC for Atonement.)

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​Additionally, Lisa has worked as the movement director/choreographer for Stockton Opera Association and on numerous projects with Opera Modesto (formally known as Townsend Opera Players.) Projects include:  Rigoletto, Amahl & the Night Visitors, Tales of Hoffmann, La Bohème,The Mikado, I, Pagliaci and an original production written by composer Russell Warner, Opera! What’s That?

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​"As a choreographer, I turn essential human emotions into movement. I bring these feelings into sharp focus by exploring their light and shadows, treating dance a a spatial dialogue and a reflection of life."

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