About the Director

My choreographic journey began, well, in my parent’s living room. Pulling the couch back into the hallway, using my dad’s vinyl records, teaching my steps to any of my friends from my childhood studio that I could get to learn them. At the age of 9, I took my first work to the stage. From there, I began choreographing for other kids at the studio, some 8-10 years older than I. At the age of 14, I started teaching children of all ages and continued to choreograph for the competitive dancers. When I graduated from high school in 2000, my family and I decided to open our own dance studio, Starstruck Performing Arts Center. That fall I started my college education at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, while running the studio in the evenings.

 

While at UMKC , my perspective of dance changed greatly. Being introduced to Horton, Graham, and Lewinsky modern techniques directly influenced my motivation and choreography. It was a whole world that I didn’t know existed, or realize that it would soon change my life. As I watched and performed with my fellow conservatory dancers, I fell in love with the concert setting. The longer pieces of music, the dramatic lighting and the modern dancers created so many new goals and ideas. While completing my fine arts degree in 2004, I began to explore the purpose of my choreography and realized, for me, it was all about the message to the audience. I often simplified my choreography being careful not to overpower the message with the steps. I wanted to reach out to people all over the world, communicating my life experiences and passions through my works. I felt that domestic violence, controlling relationships, September 11th, loss of loved ones, and falling in love, were just a few of the chapters of life that needed to be expressed by the artistic world. With my purpose set and my goals in line, Seamless was born…

 

— Erin Lustig, Founder & Artistic Director

 

Since starting Seamless, Erin has gone even further in her career as a teacher and choreographer.  She teaches across the country in studios and conventions like Soul de Soul and Pacific Dance Project. Her choreography has been featured at the Capezio A.C.E. (Award for Choreographic Excellence), Reverb Dance Festival, and the Kansas City Ballet. In 2013, she was nominated for the Pinnacle Award for the Arts and was awarded the Humanitarian of the Year by the Federation of Dance for her work with Seamless.