LUCIA AUGUST​​
Everybody Can Dance
“We are trained to limit ourselves. Fortunately breaking free from the norm is far more adventurous, exhilarating and entertaining.”
After encountering resistance in the dance world regarding my non-standard dancer’s body size as well as my age, at the age of 50, I decided to throw off those negative beliefs and pursue my lifelong dream of dancing professionally.
I love to dance! I am a choreographer, performer and dance educator who has been dancing since the mid-1950's. Over the years, I trained in a number of styles with several influential dance teachers, including creative dance with Gertrude Knight, modern dance with Bella Lewitsky and Margaret Jenkins, jazz with Ed Mock, improvisational movement with Ruth Zaporah, movement ritual and dance explorations with Anna Halprin, and choreography with Joe Goode.
My life has been about challenging the status quo. From coming out of the closet in 1974 as a Lesbian at a time when it was still extremely unpopular to do so, to restarting my dance career at 50-years-old while inhabiting a non-traditional dancer's body. Because of my struggles and subsequent success, I hope to inspire others to break free from their limitations and to live their dreams, as I am doing.
I was a company member and collaborator of Dandelion Dancetheater (2003-10) performing throughout California, as well as nationally in Hawaii and New York. I also performed with Big Moves’ Modern Dance Ensemble and with the Erika Shuck Project in San Francisco. Click here for detailed resume.
Since 2010, I have been performing my own choreography locally and internationally. The San Francisco Bay Area locations include San Francisco’s Dance Mission and Works in the Works, the annual choreographer’s showcase in Berkeley, CA. See my PERFORMANCES and PRESS pages for information from my 2014 and 2017 Edinburgh, Scotland Fringe Festival tours.
In 2016, I completed my resident artist workshop (RAW) residency at SAFEhouse for the Arts in San Francisco, performing solo and in two shared shows there. I was a featured artist in SPF9 (summer performance festival) at ODC in July 2016. I also was honored to participate in the San Francisco Movement Arts Festival at Cathedral St. Mary of the Assumption and at Grace Cathedral in January 2017.
I have been a dance therapist for 30+ years. With a very wide range of people, I have utilized both simple and complex dance movement styles for personal and interpersonal healing and for good ole’ fashioned fun. I currently teach “Everybody Can Dance” workshops in California.
I also maintained a successful psychotherapy private practice for 32 years in the San Francisco Bay Area specializing in a very wide variety of issues including LGBTQ individual and family issues. I retired in May 2021.
"Lucia represents all that is truly fine about artists working
in San Francisco. She is fearless as well as skilled, and requires
a level of genuine introspection of herself in each and every project."
— Joan Lazarus
Joan Lazarus has served as the Executive Director of Oakland Ballet, General Manager of the Cowell Theater at Fort Mason, and the Executive Director of WestWave Dance Festival. She was also the Executive Director of Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School & Camp and is the former President of Dance Bay Area.