President, Board of Directors
Elected September 2024, term ends September 2027
Mary Lisa Burns serves as Dean of the Dance Division at the New World School of the Arts in Miami, a position she has held since June 2011. Prior to her appointment, she was Director of Education for the Cunningham Dance Foundation (and prior to that, Studio Director) from September 2000 – June 2011. A faculty member of the Merce Cunningham Studio from 1988 – 2011, Dean Burns also served as Lecturer at Barnard College from 1996 – 2011.
A professional modern dancer in the companies of Kenneth King, Brenda Daniels, Gina Gibney, Robert Kovich, and others, her choreography has been presented at the Miller Theater in New York City, the Merce Cunningham Studio, the Minor Latham Playhouse, Union College in Schenectady, New York, and the Cambridge Art Association. Dean Burns has taught as a guest artist at Rutgers University Mason Gross School of the Arts, the University of Texas at Austin, Wesleyan University, Young Dancemakers Company, and the Isle de Danse Festival in Colombe, France. She was a Board member and past President of the Emergency Fund for Student Dancers in New York City.
Dean Burns served NASD as Chair of the Commission on Accreditation from 2018 – 2021. She served as Member of the Commission from 2014 – 2018, as Secretary from 2008 – 2013, and as pro tempore Member of the Board of Directors in 2014.
Dean Burns holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Dance from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance from Barnard College/Columbia University.
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Updated October 2024