LILLIAN STILLWELL has choreographed throughout Europe and in the USA since 2009. She will begin her tenure as Dance Director and Chief Choreographer at Theater Münster, Germany in Season 2022/23.
Her work includes dance evenings, interdisciplinary and immersive productions and operas in a signature choreographic language which combines virtuosic physicality with emotional vulnerability and precise musicality.
Lillian’s choreography has been seen at theaters and opera houses including Theater Basel, Oper Graz, the Royal Danish Opera, Philharmonie Luxembourg, the Norwegian National Opera, Oper Zürich, as well as at city, state and national theaters throughout Germany. She also creates work with her Basel-based company SNOW productions.





Lillian grew up in Minneapolis, MN, received her classical training at Ballet Arts Minnesota and the Milwaukee Ballet, and completed a BA in Dance at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She danced and toured with numerous choreographers in the USA and Europe, lastly from 2005 – 2012 with Johannes Wieland in New York City and at Staatstheater Kassel, Germany.
After choreographing many large-scale productions throughout Europe from 2013 – 2019, she co-founded SNOW productions in Basel with Tom Ryser. This all-local dance research and production laboratory allows for intimate collaboration, agile production cycles and experimentation. SNOW productions has been Artist-in-Residence at Dampfzentrale Bern and Braswell Art Center, created 100% Basel Pop-Up Events and received generous support by SwissLos Fonds Basel-Stadt and numerous foundations for the immersive dance evening with live DJs AFTERLIFE.
Lillian has taught dance and choreography at the University of Minnesota Dance Program, St. Olaf College and TU Dance Company and School (USA) as well as at Choreolab Europe and Profitraining Basel (Switzerland).
In 2022 Lillian will choreograph two dance evenings for Tanz Münster: FURIEN (Premiere 17. September 2022) and THE FOUR SEASONS (Premiere 11. March 2023). Her choreography in the Donizetti Trilogy at the Dutch National Opera & Ballet will be seen in Amsterdam, Valencia and Naples. Her widely praised choreography in Monteverdi’s L’ORFEO will be seen in a revival of the production at the Royal Danish Opera.


Lillian understands dance as connection.
She is actively engaged in opening and demystifying dance practice, developing sustainable working, production and performance methods and investigating new forms of dance leadership. She is currently completing her Executive Masters in Arts Administration at the University of Zürich.
TanzKongress 2022 in Mainz invited her to speak alongside other Dance Directors in a panel on innovation and accessibility in institutional dance companies. She is a Mentor in the German Cultural Department’s Initiative to increase the representation of women in cultural leadership. The winning design of the “Sustainable Dance Set-Design Competition” she launched at Theater Münster in 2021 will be seen throughout Tanz Münster’s first two seasons.
Beginning in Season 2022/23, together with her team, the company of twelve dancers and numerous artistic guests, Lillian aims to build on Münster’s rich dance tradition of artistic excellence to establish Tanz Münster as a place for innovation and sustainability in dance.



Deutschen Kulturrat Program for Women in Cultural Leadership Positions
APPLY HERE

Radio Feature about AFTERLIFE by SNOW productions
Radio X, Basel
Collaborators
Institutions, Dancers, Teams & Choreographers Lillian has worked with
Interview with Lillian Stillwell
on Leadership, Parenting and Dance for
www.re-dance.work
by Katelyn Skelley
PRESS
Interview with Lillian Stillwell and Tom Ryser by wiewaersmalmit.ch
Interview with Lillian Stillwell
on Leadership, Parenting and Dance for www.re-dance.work, by Katelyn Skelley
on Leadership, Parenting and Dance for www.re-dance.work, by Katelyn Skelley
Radio Feature about AFTERLIFE by SNOW productions, Radio X, Basel
Read More Press Below
