Lizzie Leopold

Lizzie Leopold (she/her) is an Assistant Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, with a dual focus on dance scholarship and arts administration. She served as Executive Director of the Dance Studies Association (2019–2024) and as a lecturer in Theater & Performance Studies at the University of Chicago during the same period.

Educational background:

• PhD in Theatre and Drama (Northwestern University)
• MA in Performance Studies (New York University)
• BFA in Dance (University of Michigan)

Her research interrogates the intersections of dance with political economy, exploring how financial systems shape choreographic value and cultural production. Current projects include co-editing the two-volume Dancing on the Third Coast: Chicago Dance Histories (University of Illinois Press, 2025) and collaborating with artist Brendan Fernandes on Budget as Score: Performance as/is Capital, an experimental fusion of artistic practice and economic critique.

Recent publications analyze dance commodification, religious residues in Shakespearean performance, and eco-political choreography. Key themes include:

• Choreographic valuation mechanisms
• Capitalist critique in dance
• Arts administration ethics
• Embodied research methodologies
• Historical dance analysis
• Interdisciplinary performance theory

Awards and honors:

• Links Hall Co-Mission Resident Artist (2018–2019)
• Outstanding Choreography, New York International Fringe Festival (2008)

Her administrative philosophy emphasizes collaborative leadership, ethical resource distribution, and embodied pedagogy, particularly through her direction of Chicago-based modern dance company The Leopold Group (2006–2018). She advocates for research that actively engages with physical practice, positioning choreography as a political possibility.