Dawn Lane is a graduate of Massachusetts College of Art and Design (1980, BFA) and Lesley University (1992, MEd). Her curiosity, training and experience with mixed ability casts started as a student at Jacob’s Pillow in the late 1980s, studying with Trisha Brown, Liz Lerman, Victoria Marks, Sally Banes and later with Celeste Miller. In the 90s, she worked with Paula Rais and Peter Dimuro, piloting the Elder Arts Initiative thru the Massachusetts Cultural Council to build opportunities for artists to make community based work in elder settings throughout the Commonwealth. In 2012, Dawn was an Artist in Residence at MASSART, setting her choreography on Studio for Interrelated Media (SIM) majors and artists with disabilities from Gateway Arts in Brookline. Her work has been funded by Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award Initiative (2015), The Martha Boschen Fund (2017), Massachusetts Cultural Council (1997), Mid Atlantic Arts Council (2000), LEF Foundation (2003) , Cottonwood Foundation (2004), and VSA Arts International (2006). Dawn was awarded a Massachusetts Cultural Council Choreography Fellowship (2010) a distinguished alumnus award from Massachusetts College of Art & Design (2010), the Outstanding Dance Educator Award from Massachusetts Alliance for Arts Education (2007) and the Unsung Hero Award for Berkshire County, MA (2005).

Dawn is one of three nationally chosen choreographers/dance educators to lead Curriculum in Motion (CIM) residencies for Jacob’s Pillow, a model that draws upon K-12 curriculum frameworks as a source for kinetic learning and student driven choreography. She joined Community Access to the Arts (CATA) faculty in 1993-1994 and the staff in 1997. She currently serves as Program and Artistic Director, as well as Director of CATA’s Moving Company, founded in 1997.