About Barbara Land

Barbara Land attended Point Park College, University of Pittsburgh, and the University of British Columbia, and holds a teaching diploma and certificate from the Royal Academy College in London, England. A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she served as Director of the University of Nevada, Reno Dance Program from 1995 to 2010.

Ms. Barbara is internationally known for her writings on dance history, dancers’ wellness and injury prevention. She has choreographed for The Reno Philharmonic Orchestra (Carmina Burana, Romeo and Juliet, and Rodeo); The Nevada Opera (HMS Pinafore, Pagliacci, Die Fledermaus, Lucia di Lammermoor, La Traviata, The Merry Widow and Carmen); Reno Chamber Orchestra (Clearly McCleer The Clocks); and University of Nevada, Reno (Amahl and the Night Visitor, Hansel and Gretel, and The Merry Widow).

She has taught at Vassar College; New York Wagner College summer program, Staten Island; Banff Center for the Arts, Canada; Pepperdine University summer program; Ballet Metropolitan, Columbus, Ohio; and the Royal Academy of Dancing International Summer School. Barbara is the recipient of the State of Nevada Governor’s Arts Award in Dance and the Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of Nevada, Reno College of Liberal Arts.

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In the summer of 2010, she made her second trip to the Peruvian Amazon to study the rituals of the rainforest. Dance is a wonderful human connector. In the case of Barbara Land, ballet became a bridge between her life in Reno, Nevada, and the deep jungles of the Amazon rain forest in Peru.