CREATIVE CHOREOGRAPHIC CONNECTIONS

Lisa Conlin has been a director, choreographer, teacher, dancer, actress, model, and performer for over forty years. She trained at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet of Canada, New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, and received a dance scholarship to Los Angeles, CA. She danced professionally with Ballet of the Dolls Dance Theater Company, Sweet Feet Tap Company, Keane Sense of Rhythm Tap Company, Continental Classical Ballet Company, and OFF-LEASH AREA Dance Theater Company. She has been cast in regional and national commercials, videos, musicals, print, and runway shows, and touring shows to Paul Taylor Dance Studio, NYC, NY, and Macy’s Calvin Klein Tour Show throughout the Midwest. She was the Co-Artistic Director of LiRa Dance Theatre Company with partner Raena Rasmussen for twelve years, choreographying over a hundred original works on the dance company. LiRa Dance Theatre Company was awarded Best Show for their Us show in 2025. Lisa has been teaching and judging dance in the Midwest for over forty years creating four full length Christmas shows, recital pieces, company pieces, competition group and solo pieces. She is also a Good Night Theatre Collective member serving as choreographer, dancer, actress, singer, and dance captain. She is also the manager of the healing arts program of Move to Heal under the Solace nonprofit organization teaching yoga, dance, and dance expression to children, teens, and adults and directing and choreographing for the Move to Heal Dance Collective.

Lisa is the Artistic Director of Conlin Choreography. She was recently awarded the 2025 Embe Performing & Visual Arts Award for her community involvement in the Performing Arts. She has also been awarded Best Chorography for The Good Night Theatre Collective A Christmas Story, Best Show for her oringal full length show, Blue Heaven, and a Special distintiction award for the Rise Up Artist Mentorship Program she co-founded with Maddie Titze. She has also been awarded the South Dakota Arts Council Artist Fellowship award 2021-22, a Run Project Grant through Embrace Church, a recipient of the Live Music for Dance Minnesota Grant Program, voted Outstanding, Encore, and Most Original Choreography at Midwest Dance Competitions, choreographed seven full-length shows, and curated RENOVATE-A Choreographer’s Evening. She is also certified in yoga, barre, and pilates. Lisa's passion is creating artistic connections with her students and collaborating with community organizations to give back to her community and beyond. She loves watching her students grow and shine their bright lights for all to see. She thanks her dance teacher Judy Rae Smith for giving her the gift of "loving dance" when she was four years old.

Recent Work

A note from Lisa on her teaching philosophy

I have been teaching dance and theater for over thirty years throughout the Midwest. I love developing relationships with my students of all ages: children, young adults, and mature adults to help them be the best they can be in whatever avenue of dance and theater they want to explore. I love to watch the growth of each individual student and find their strengths to enhance and help nurture their skills and technique along the way to take them to the next level of their artistic journey. Working on choreography with individuals or for independent projects, my choreography can best be described as; The body of my work is based from several aesthetics that I have trained and worked in. I use modern, ballet, pointe, jazz, contemporary, musical theatre, tap, ballroom, rhythms, and yoga. My movement can be quirky, athletic, lyrical, rhythmic, busy, quiet, or still. The brains of my work is my hours spent researching different areas that relate to the work. Most of my ideas come from things that I am passionate about, life experiences, or things that I want to educate people about. The face of my work is, of course, my theatrical background in characterization, storytelling, and emotions. The mouth of my work is fusing voiceovers, text work, and vocal sounds with choreography to add layers, depth, and texture to the work. The eyes of my work is my movement on artists. I take the time to connect with the dancer’s strengths with my movement on their bodies. The heart of my work is things that have meaning and purpose and that I think the audience can relate to. When the audience and work connect, it is magical and that is what I strive for. I want the audience to be moved some way-somehow; to laugh, cry, surprise, love, question, as long as it is felt from the heart I feel like I have created a masterpiece.