Julia Rhoads
Areas of Study: Committee on Theater and Performance Studies Website: http://www.luckyplush.com Phone: (773)862-9484 Contact: Email
Assistant Senior Instructional Professor in the Committee on Theatre and Performance Studies and the College
Biography
Julia Rhoads is Director of Dance and Assistant Senior Instructional Professor in Theater and Performance Studies at University of Chicago and the founding Artistic Director of Lucky Plush Productions, a MacArthur Award-winning ensemble recognized for its unique blend of dance, theater, comedy, and socially relevant themes. Her work with Lucky Plush has toured to over 75 venues worldwide, including the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (DC), Joyce Theater (NYC), Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, ODC (CA), Wellesley Center (Auckland, NZ), and Teatro Las Carolinas (Havana, Cuba). Other choreography credits include Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Steppenwolf Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, River North Dance Chicago, and she was commissioned to create a work in honor of the Year of Chicago Theater for Art on theMart, the world’s largest digital installation. She is the recipient of an Alpert Award in Dance, fellowships from Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography and Chicago Dancemakers Forum, and her work for Lucky Plush has received creation and touring awards from National Endowment for the Arts, National Dance Project, National Theater Project, and National Performance Network. She is a former member of the San Francisco Ballet and ensemble member of XSIGHT! Performance Group, and received her BA in History from Northwestern University and her MFA in Performance from the School of the Art Institute Chicago.