Lina Puodžiukaitė-Lanauskienė

Dancer, choreographer, and teacher Lina Puodžiukaitė-Lanauskienė began her dance career with Kaunas's dance theatre AURA, where she performed from 1994 to 2000. She continued her contemporary dance studies in the United States, earning a BFA from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and an MFA from Hollins University in Virginia. During this time, she interned and worked at the Lincoln Center Institute in New York, and performed with the Kris Cangelosi Dance Company in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as Notoriety Inc. in New York City. 

Since returning to Lithuania in 2006, L. Puodžiukaitė-Lanauskienė has been actively engaged in both creative and performance work. She danced and choreographed with Kaunas's dance theatre AURA from 2006 to 2010 and has collaborated on various Lithuanian and international projects with contemporary dance artists such as Vytis Jankauskas, Liza Baliasnaja, Erika Vizbaraitė, Karel Vanek (Germany), Cris Cangelosi (USA), and others. Her artistic practice spans from traditional stage productions to interdisciplinary projects that animate urban spaces through diverse art forms.

In 2010, L. Puodžiukaitė-Lanauskienė was one of the key initiators behind the creation of the Contemporary Dance programme at the National M.K. Čiurlionis School of Arts. She went on to serve as head of the school’s Ballet Department (2011–2016), chaired the Contemporary Dance Association in Lithuania (2015–2020), and contributed her expertise to the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme (2018–2020), the Lithuanian Council for Culture, and the Cultural Passport initiative (2022–2024). She was also one of four co-authors of the Expert Study on Dance (2020), part of a larger project aimed at modelling a system for monitoring and analysing cultural and artistic projects and processes.

L. Puodžiukaitė-Lanauskienė is the recipient of the inaugural Vita Mozūraitė's Prize for Merit in Contemporary Dance. In 2022, she received the Contemporary Dance Association Award for her outstanding contributions to the field of dance. She was also honoured with the Badge of Honour Carry Your Light and Believe in recognition of her years of dedication to fostering contemporary dance, creating remarkable dance roles, her forward-thinking and structured approach to training the next generation of contemporary dance professionals, her commitment to the dance community, and her exceptional contributions to Lithuanian culture and education.

Photo by Dmitrij Matvejev.