About

Dance is connection

Lillian Stillwell works internationally as a freelance choreographer and is Dance Director and Chief Choreographer at Theater Münster in Germany. Her choreography uses ballet in a contemporary dance context that relies on humanity, authenticity and diversity. Music is the departure point for all of her work, which aims to express human potential through form.   

Following her dance career in the USA and Germany, her choreography has been seen at institutions throughout Europe including Oper Zürich, Dutch National Opera & Ballet, the Royal Danish Opera, Palais des les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, the Philharmonie Luxembourg and the Semperoper Dresden, at dance conservatories in Frankfurt and Zürich and with her company with Tom Ryser, SNOW productions, in Basel. She has created numerous critically acclaimed and enthusiastically received dance evenings for Tanz Münster since 2022, including DIE SCHWÄNE (THE SWANS, 2026), her new interpretation of Swan Lake from the female perspective with which she “brings the ballet classic out of feudalism and into the democratic present,“ (tanznetz.de) and the interdisciplinary production JEANNE D’ARC (2025), described by tanz magazine as “unconventional” and “a magnificent, complete work of art.”

In 2026, Lillian Stillwell was awarded the annual prize of the Theater Friends of Theater Münster for her choreographic excellence and for establishing a company distinguished by its “artistic curiosity, intellectual openness, and cultural relevance.” Since 2022, Tanz Münster has attracted widespread recognition for its artistic quality, connected to new audiences through outreach, realised numerous ambitious, inter-institutional cooperations and established a research field on social sustainability in dance practice.  

Lillian Stillwell began her career as an emerging talent with the Milwaukee Ballet, continued with diverse contemporary choreographers in the New York City and Minneapolis freelance scenes and ended at the Staatstheater Kassel as a longtime dancer with Johannes Wieland. Her work with dancers is marked by dialogue-based methods that prioritise a humanistic approach which draws on their individual potential to develop virtuosic and emotional performances.  

She holds an Executive Master of Arts Administration from the Universität Zürich and has a longstanding commitment to social sustainability in dance. 

She is completing an Executive Masters in Arts Administration at Universität Zürich, is a Mentor in the German Cultural Council’s Initiative for Women in Leadership in Culture & Media, and has been a panelist and jury member for various institutions. Her interest in innovative dance leadership has driven her to establish new outreach formats, initiate interdepartmental collaboration, build institutional partnerships and raise awareness about sustainability in dance at Theater Münster.

This season, her work has been seen at
Theater Münster | Germany
the Royal Danish Opera | Denmark
the Dutch National Opera | Netherlands
Les Arts | Spain
Teatro san Carlo | Italy and
Bühnen Bern | Switzerland.

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Milestones

2026

Award-winning

In the summer of 2026, Lillian Stillwell received the award from the Society of Music and Theater Friends of Münster and the Münsterland e.V., in the category Dance for her outstanding achievements as a choreographer and artistic director. Dr. Wolfgang Weikert, the society’s chairman, delivered the laudatory speech, which you can read in its entirety here. „Lillian Stillwell has succeeded in developing a distinctive artistic style out of her background, training and experience that endures far beyond the moment.“
2026

First Story Ballet

Lillian Stillwell’s DIE SCHWÄNE (2026) - Sitllwell's "Swan Lake" to music by Pjotr I. Tschaikowsky - was euphorically received and quickly gained broad attention in the European dance field for its unique interpretation of the ballet classic. Her first work from the ballet canon, Stillwell tells the story to the original score from the female perspective of the protagonist, Odette. The synchronicity and uniformity of the swans’ existence is questioned as the swans abandon conformity and risk individualization. The love story integrates texts by the renowned Austrian writer Ingeborg Bachmann. Texts from her short story “Undine departs” give voice to a potent female figure exploring the tension between love and liberation.
2024

Sustainability in Dance

Lillian Stillwell is particularly engaged with the topic of sustainability in dance. She has established a research field on the subject at Tanz Münster with initiatives such as the “Sustainable Dance Stage (2022 – 2025),” the outreach format TanzNAH and interinstitutional cooperations, most recently INSIDE/OUT (2025), funded by the prestigious Kunststiftung NRW. She wrote her Masters Thesis, “Dance Programming and Social Sustainability: Is there an “Ideal Formula” for Institutions?” at the Universität Zürich under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Elisabeth Bronfen and Prof. Dr. Christina Thurner.
September 2022 - present

Dance Director & Chief Choreographer

Lillian Stillwell has been Dance Director and Chief Choreographer at Theater Münster since Season 2022/23. Under her direction, Tanz Münster has extended the theater’s long tradition of artistic excellence in dance and built a reputation for its innovation and sustainability. Lillian Stillwell has created multiple new works for the company that have “turned Münster into an inspiring place for dance with her unconventional, interdisciplinary art” (Bettina Trouwborst, tanz, April 2025). In 2026, she was awarded the prize from the Society of Music and Theater Friends of Münster and the Münsterland e.V., in the category Dance for her outstanding achievements as a choreographer and artistic director.
2022 - present

Mentorship & Engagement

Lillian Stillwell has been a mentor, served on expert panels and participated in numerous juries. She wrote her Master’s Thesis on Sustainability in Dance Programming in Institutions at Universität Zürich and initiated the Sustainable Dance Stage Competition at Theater Münster. Since 2022, she has partcipated regularly as a Mentor in the German Cultural Council’s initiative for Women in Culture and Media.
2020 - present

Leadership

Lillian Stillwell has worked in dance leadership both in and outside of institutions since the end of her dance career and holds an Executive Master in Arts Administration from the Universität Zürich. She has taught and created works in university settings in Germany, Switzerland and the USA. From 2019 – 2022, she founded and led the company SNOW productions together with Tom Ryser in the Basel freelance dance scene. Since 2022, she directs the Dance Department at Theater Münster. In 2025, she joined the Board of Directors of the BBTK, the German Association of Dance Directors. In all of her leadership work, Lillian Stillwell is engaged in bringing multiple voices into dialogue, increasing equity and actively representing dance in broader cultural discussions. This work is informed by her experience as a former professional dancer and as a mother.
2013 - present

Freelance Choreographer

Since 2013, Lillian Stillwell has worked as freelance choreographer throughout Europe and in the USA. She has created dance evenings, interdisciplinary productions and experimental projects. Highlights include NULLPUNKT at the Zurich University of the Arts, DIALOGUES DES CARMÉLITES at the Semperoper Dresden and Oper Zurich, L’ORFEO at the Royal Danish Opera and JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR at Theater Basel.
1998 - 2012

Dancer

Lillian Stillwell trained in classical and contemporary dance before embarking on a 15-year dance career that took her from her home town of Minneapolis, MN, USA to New York City and later to Germany. She began her career as an emerging talent with the Milwaukee Ballet, continued with diverse contemporary choreographers in the New York City and Minneapolis freelance scenes and ended at the Staatstheater Kassel as a longtime dancer with Johannes Wieland.

Expertise

Dance Director

Mentorship & Engagement

Leadership

Choreography

Dancer