About

Lily Kind (they/she) is a critically acclaimed choreographer, dancer, producer, and writer based in Philadelphia & London. Lily's movement languages include contemporary dance, clown, waacking, locking, and vernacular jazz. Lily’s multi-disciplinary practice grows from the places where post-modern/ contemporary dance overlaps with Black American Popular dance.

Lily’s work has been presented by The Place (London, UK), Breaking Walls Festival (Cairo, Egypt), Philadelphia Dance Projects, Table Gallery (Chicago), Miami Light Project, Sarasota Contemporary Dance Company, Le Mondo (Baltimore), Creative Alliance (Baltimore), The Baltimore Museum of Art, Princeton University, Concord Academy, and Ursinus College. Lily self-produced her own work as the founder of Effervescent Collective in Baltimore, Maryland – gaining recognition as Best Choreographer, (Baltimore Magazine, 2014) Best Dance Company (Baltimore City Paper, 2010, 2012, Baltimore Magazine, 2012) and winning a Baker Artist Award ‘B’ Grant, 2011.

Lily is a Senior Lecturer (FHEA) at De Montfort University in Leicester, UK as well as a frequent guest at London School of Contemporary Dance. Lily teaches a range of studio practice and context studies including Dance History, Screen Dance, Site & Alternative Production, Vernacular Jazz, Contemporary Dance and Flying Low. Lily has also served an an adjunct professor at Marymount Manhattan College in New York City and Ursinus College outside Philadelphia. Lily has taught workshops at Bryn Mawr College, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Gallim Dance Company, Miami Light Project, Muhlenberg College, Princeton University, Temple University, TripSpace, and Tulane University.

Lily is an ambassador of Flying Low & Passing Through, the methods of David Zambrano, having trained intensively with both Zambrano & Milan Herich in Thailand, Costa Rica, Mexico, and as a participant in The 60 Days Project in Brussels, Belgium. As a vernacular jazz dancer, Lily trained with Breai Mason-Campbell’s Guardian Baltimore (now Moving History), as a guest of The Jazz Maniacs (Brussels) in 2019, and was an invited participant in Melanie George’s Woodshed in 2022. Lily co-founded Ragtag Empire in 2016, and served as co-director until 2023. From 2017-2020 Lily supported Vince Johnson’s founding and operation of Urban Movement Arts (UMA) in downtown Philly, where they were deeply influenced by Ron Wood (Capoeira, House) and The Hood Lockers (Locking, House). At UMA, Lily ran an Artists in Residence program and the works in progress series Workinonit.. In 2024, Lily joined the London chapter of the House of Suraj, led by Kumari Suraj

Lily holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts with a concentration in Afro-Diasporic Studies from Goddard College, an honors BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from Goucher College, and a certificate from Headlong Dance Theater. Her dance writing can be found at Dance Art Journal, Culturebot, thinkingDance, Phindie, and ArtBlog and her short-lived “pandemic” podcast with Mel Cotton, called Tracing Steps. Lily’s DIY production ‘zine ‘How To Make A Dance In America’ is available for free, digitally at The Voxel.

Lily has provided movement direction and choreography for House of Suraj, Play Co NYC, The Baltimore Rock Opera, Annex Theater, and Single Carrot Theater. She has performed in Philly with Magda San Millan, Andrew Simonet, Mark "Metal" Wong, Mystique, and The Medium Theater Company. She has choreographed music videos for Bosley, Carsie Blanton, Sianna Plavin, and appeared in music videos for Dan Deacon, Dungeonesse, Echoes, and Hard Work Movement.

Lily’s frequent collaborators and closest thought partners, who perhaps could be considered a Philadelphia-centric school of thought:

Chelsea Murphy, Dylan Smythe, Chloe Marie, Alex Brazinksi, Maddie Hopfield, Vince Johnson, Lillian Ransijn, Adam Stone, Eva Steinmetz