LISA A. FUSILLO, Professor in the Department of Dance at the University of Georgia, is a founding member of CORPS de Ballet International.  She was named the UGA Foundation Professor of the Arts in 2020 and the Phi Kappa Phi Artist for 2020-2022.  She began her professional ballet training at the Washington School of Ballet in  Washington, DC and later studied at Butler University as well as in New York, at the Royal Ballet School in London, the Vaganova Choreographic Institute in St. Petersburg (Russia), and the Royal Danish Ballet/Bartholin Ballet Intensive in Copenhagen (Denmark). She holds the Professional Diploma from the Royal Ballet School in London, the Léonide Massine Diploma in Choreography and certifications from the American Ballet Theatre® National Training Curriculum, the New York City Ballet Education Department and Progressing Ballet Technique™.  She is a Licentiate and lifetime member of the Royal Academy of Dance, the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, and the Cecchetti Society (UK).  Professor Fusillo is the founder/artistic director of Dance Repertory Project at UGA.

An artist, educator and historian, Dr. Fusillo specializes in choreography, ballet training and dance history, with a focus on Léonide Massine and the Ballets Russes and dance in American musical theatre. She has presented choreography, scholarly research and taught in Europe, the U.S., Asia and Australia. Her choreography has been presented in Belgium, France, Germany, England, the Netherlands, Cyprus, Thailand, Taiwan, Costa Rica, and at the International Ballet Competition (Jackson, MS), the Barcelona Dance Festival in Spain and the Prague International Dance Festival where she was awarded a second place for choreography.

Along with several articles on Léonide Massine (Ballets Russes choreographer), Dr. Fusillo has also published articles on Charles Weidman (American modern dance pioneer) and histories of dance in American musical theatre. Her most recent article about Léonide Massine was published in Un ballet en el balcón de Europa: Repensar «El sombrero de tres picos» cien años después by Archivo Manuel de Falla in Granada, Spain (2021) and her current research project is on Léonide Massine in America.

She has taught for the Royal Ballet School in London, the Neuilly Ballet School in Paris, Payap University in Thailand, and Coburg Ballet in Germany, and has been on the faculty at George Washington University, Skidmore College, Texas Christian University, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (director of the dance program), Tsoying High School Pre-Professional Dance Division (Kaohsiung, Taiwan) and the National Institute of the Arts, now Taipei University of the Arts, in Taiwan. In 2019, Dr. Fusillo taught at Oxford University with the UGA at Oxford program.

Her early career awards include a Gulbenkian/Cecchetti Award for performance and the Léonide Massine Award for choreography. Dr. Fusillo was a Fulbright Scholar to Taiwan and a visiting ballet mistress for Cloud Gate Dance Theatre. She is a four-time recipient of prestigious National Endowment for the Arts awards in dance and has received several research awards including an Earthwatch Research Fellowship, a Willson Center for Humanities & Arts Research Fellowship and M. G. Michael Award.  Professor Fusillo’s teaching awards include Mortar Board’s “Top Prof” award (TCU), Recognition for Contributions to Students Award (UNL), and at UGA – the Franklin College Outstanding Teaching Award, General Sandy Beaver Teaching Professorship, First Year Odyssey Teaching Award, Center for Teaching and Learning ‘Teacher of the Week’, UGA Writing Fellow Award, and selection into the UGA Teaching Academy.  She served as department head for the UGA Department of Dance from 2006-2018 and received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Texas Woman’s University.

Dr. Fusillo holds the BS in Human Kinetics (dance) from George Washington University and has both the MA in dance (choreography) and PhD in dance and related arts from Texas Woman’s University. Dr. Fusillo was named the Phi Kappa Phi Artist 2020-2022 and in 2022 received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Texas Woman’s University.

For over 20 years, Lisa served on 5-6 different committees in CORPS, including the nominations and elections committee for 12 years. From the inception of the organization, she began on the membership committee (with Anjali Austin and Denise Celestin) and on the planning committee; she also served on the board of directors for many years. Some of her contributions include suggesting a committee to
assist members in promotion and tenure, which became the mentorship committee and from which she represented CORPS de Ballet on a national committee to create guidelines for promotion and tenure in dance. She was instrumental in forming other new committees as the organization grew. She has been a frequent and consistent nominator for the LAA, with four of the people she nominated receiving the award. A strong advocate for the organization, Lisa personally encouraged colleagues and former students to become members, as well as encouraged a few members to serve on the board. She expanded more fully the detailed historical documentation of the officers and board members for CORPS. Lisa has been a quiet and consistent contributor to CORPS de Ballet for a long time!