MEET LIDA

  • Interdisciplinary Creator for dance, theater, storytelling, spoken word, installation and visual art
  • Choreographer:  solo, duet and large group performances
  • Keynote Performer for Educational Conferences:  In Search of Air: Growing Up Dyslexic - offered around the country focusing on education, access, disability and the value of the arts
  • Integrated Arts Educator of professional development workshops around the country for educators integrating dance into all academic curricula
  • Creative Facilitator guiding individuals and groups through the process of creative expression and communication
  • Master Teacher of dance, theater,  storytelling and creative process

BIOGRAPHY

Lida Winfield is an innovative and accomplished dancer, choreographer, spoken word artist and educator; who has created original work merging storytelling, dance and visual art.  As an artist, educator and keynote presenter, she has performed and taught nationally and internationally in traditional and non-traditional environments from Bates Dance Festival to MindMingle in Malviya Nagar, New Delhi. Lida’s artistic practice is inextricably linked to her role as an educator and her pedagogy is rooted in inclusion, access, and the recognition that our brains and bodies work differently and this difference is a valuable asset. Lida cultivates opportunities and experiences that are deeply transformative. What transpires within the teaching and performing environment is integrated and transferred out into the world, allowing it to live beyond the confines of the classroom or stage.

Lida studied at The School for New Dance Development in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and in 2011 earned a Masters of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College in VT, with a focus on the transformative power of the expressive arts. In 2016, she was honored with the Rebecca Blunk Fund Award through New England Foundation for the Arts. Her work has received support from Vermont Arts Council, New England Foundation for the Arts and the National Performance Network and has been commissioned by The Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Middlebury Performing Arts Series, The Yard, and Jacob’s Pillow. Lida is currently an Assistant Professor of Dance at Middlebury College and served as the Department Chair from 2021-2024. Her role at Middlebury also includes serving as the Conflict Transformation Pillar Two Head in which she oversees Conflict Transformation in undergraduate life on the campus.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I believe that our bodies carry wisdom, history and stories. Through movement we are granted the opportunity to actively engage with that wisdom and history from a new perspective. Standing in this new place allows us to own our stories, reclaim them and reimagine ourselves within them.  From this position we can then choose the path of our forward movement. I define this as activism: an internal shift which allows you to see yourself and the world around you and your role within it. This transformation allows us to engage with ourselves and others with curiosity, creativity and empathy. I make art as a way of creating a seat at the table. It is a platform through which I engage and discuss challenging topics with the belief that transformation will occur in the process.

WHY LIDA MAKES ART