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. 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 encourages her students and audience to see themselves, their bodies, and their environment from new angles. She 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, VT, with a focus on the transformative power of the expressive arts. In 2016, she was honored with the Rebecca Blunk Fund Award though New England Foundation for the Arts, and in 2017, she received a National Performance Network Creation and Development grant for her new work IMAGINARY with commissioning partners The Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Jacob’s Pillow, Middlebury Performing Arts Series, and The Yard. Lida is currently a  Visiting Assistant Professor in the Dance Program at Middlebury College.