LISA STARRY
Artistic Director/Choreographer

Born under the astrological sign of Scorpio, Lisa Starry is intense but friendly, passionate and determined, dependable and intuitive. These inherent traits are what help make Scorpius Dance Theatre the foremost performing arts company in Arizona.

Lisa grew up throughout the US and Europe, a product of the 1960s and her free-spirited German Mother. She began her formal dance training in modern, ballet, and choreography at the Phoenix School of Ballet in 1985 and continued on to college to receive her BFA in Dance/Choreography from the California Institute for the Arts in 1993. That same year she was presented with a full scholarship to the London Contemporary School of Dance student exchange program.

She returned to perform with several local companies in and around Phoenix. However, it was around this time that she knew she had something refreshing and distinct to offer as a choreographer herself. In 1996 Lisa married her high school sweetheart and Arizona-born dancer, David Starry (a Capricorn). They celebrated the birth of their son Christian (an Aquarius) in 1997. This happy occasion also marked the beginning of Lisa’s emergence into professional choreography. As is common in the arts, Lisa now dealt with the challenge of figuring out what she needed to accomplish in order to pursue her passion and in 1998 she accepted the proposal to head the dance program at the Metropolitan Arts Institute High School. It was in 1999 that Scorpius Dance Theatre was born. Metro Arts is the official rehearsal home for Scorpius.

Lisa manages Scorpius like a tight-knit family and many dancers enjoy working with her for that reason. Other dancers simply respect Lisa for her creativity and motivation...always thinking outside of the box. This is a team environment and Scorpius’ strengths come from the mutual care, respect and cooperation of dancers, volunteers, and board members. A consummate professional, it’s been instinctive for Lisa to build relationships within the metropolitan Phoenix arts community and she continues to do so in the dance and theater circles. As a result of Lisa’s reputation, personal character, and with the steady exposure of this unique contemporary dance company, Scorpius quite often has exclusive opportunities presented to them, regularly experimenting with innovative performance situations while making new friends.

Ms. Starry has been honored to serve as a judge for the Arizona Young Dancers Competition for the past 4 years. She also co-produces the annual Celebration of Dance (1999 - 2009) concert with Golden Lion Productions director, Helena Saraydarian.

Starry’s annual Fall production of A Vampire Tale was voted BEST MODERN DANCE PRODUCTION 2007 and Scorpius Dance Theatre was recently named BEST CONTEMPORARY DANCE COMPANY 2009, both by Phoenix New Times BEST OF Awards. She has been commissioned by other prominent arts groups and had featured choreography in Phoenix Metropolitan Opera’s full-scale production of AIDA (2009), Nearly Naked Theatre’s productions of The Who’s Tommy (2006) and Metamorphoses (2008), and Teatro Bravo’s Blood Wedding (2009). Lisa also won the Cave Creek Film & Arts Festival Award for Original Choreography in 2009 and 2010.

She is in the process of producing a film based on her signature cult classic, A Vampire Tale.

© 2009 Scorpius Dance Theatre

“My dream was always to entertain...”

LISA STARRY NEWS

Lisa stays very busy with projects outside of Scorpius and is regularly recognized and honored as an independent artist . . .

Lisa is featured as #92 on Phoenix New Times’ “100 Creatives!!”

READ THE ARTICLE HERE

Lisa was awarded first place in the Choreography category at the Cave Creek Film & Arts Festival 2010!

Lisa had featured choreography in the video, “Heaven’s Manger,” produced by the up-and-coming music artist, Miss Krystle. VIEW ON YOUTUBE HERE

“Lisa Starry’s A VAMPIRE TALE” script is finished and we are in the process of pitching it to a producer.

Lisa Starry was honored as a nominee for Arts Advocate of the Year by the Arts & Business Council.

Lisa will have featured choreography in the short film, “Accordian”...to be released in late September.