Lyn Wiltshire was touched by dance at a very young age growing up in New York City, and her career fits the model of passion and fervor surpassing credentials. She has trained and performed with many notable teachers and dance companies, including the Dance Theatre of Harlem and toured nationally and internationally with The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. To her credit she has performed in film, television and with symphony orchestras around the country. Her path to academia has been by way of “the school without walls”, choreographing and teaching until finally her reputation preceded her. As an Associate Professor of Dance at the University of Texas she is a dance educator, administrator and director.
Beyond her work at UT, Lyn has presented workshops, master classes and lectures in London, Portugal, Taiwan and all over the U.S. and Hawaii. Her choreography has been commissioned by companies in Texas, Indiana, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, New York and California and through this network presented to Canadian and European audiences. During her time at the University, Lyn has directed and choreographed for the UT performing ensemble Dance Repertory Theatre and for the third time in four years (2004, 2006, 2008) the ensemble will premiere her work in Austria at the Young Tanzsommer Festival. The dancers travel and performance experience is made possible by the generous support of the College of Fine Arts and the Department of Theatre and Dance and their family. In 2004, she became the Artistic Director of L'A.R.T Dance Project, she is privileged to take this opportunity to provide direction and bring her expertise to the dance project. She is the recipient of Awards and Masters Fellowships for Choreography and Dance and is on the registry of the National Choreography Plan. She synchronized a five year affiliation between the Department of Theatre and Dance, the Craft of Choreography Conference and later the Glenda Brown Choreography Project as one of the departments Summer Intensive Programs.
Through her efforts, the first M.F.A. in Dance at UT was inaugurated in the department. In addition, she has served on the Dance Advisory Panel for the Indiana Art's Commission, Louisiana Division of the Arts and has adjudicated pre–professional companies throughout the mid–west. She was an adjudicator for Regional Dance America's National Festival to be held in Pittsburgh, PA in 2007. And last, to enhance her affiliation with the Tanzsommer Dance Festival in Austria, Lyn will choreograph and teach master classes for the Salzburg International Ballet Academy and Workshop from July 19 – August 10th, 2008. In addition, she will be the Artistic Director, along with New York conductor and composer David Eaton and vocalist David D'or, for the presentation of “Halelu” dedicated to the efforts of the Middle East Peace Initiative and all Ambassadors for Peace, June 21 – July 9, 2008 in Cyprus, Greece.