Choreography Fellowship Program | Program Director

August 18 – August 28

Risa Steinberg is active in many facets of the dance community as a performer, teacher, re-constructor of the works of José Limón, rehearsal coach, and mentor to young, emerging, and established choreographers. A native New Yorker, Risa attended the High School of Performing Arts. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from The Juilliard School, where she has served as full-time faculty since 2004 and held the position of Associate Director of Dance from 2008-2016. Risa has been a guest teacher worldwide and at many summer intensives, including Arts Umbrella and Impulstanz, since 2001. In 2022, she received the Dance Teacher Magazine Award of Distinction.

As a performer, Risa was a principal dancer with the José Limón Dance Company, Bill Cratty Dance Theater, Annabelle Gamson, Anna Sokolow’s Player’s Project, Colin Connor, and American Repertory Dance Company of Los Angeles. She has also appeared as a guest artist with choreographers including Wally Cardona, Sean Curran, Kate Weare, and DanzaHoy of Caracas, Venezuela, and as a cast member of Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More from 2015-2020. Her critically acclaimed solo concert, A Celebration of Dance, featured a repertory from Isadora Duncan to contemporary choreographers. 

As a re-constructor of the works of Mr. Limón, Risa has worked with companies and dancers, including Nureyev and Friends, Frank Augustyn, and Karen Kain.

As a choreographic advisor, she has the honor of mentoring many emerging choreographers, as well as established choreographers, including Brian Brooks, Kyle Abraham, Kate Weare, Michelle Dorrance, and choreographers from the New York Choreographic Institute. Risa is the co-director of The Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship Program at Jacob’s Pillow.

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