Biography

Lydia Zimmer is a Halifax-based contemporary dance artist and the Artistic Director and founder of Zimmerdans. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Magna Cum Laude, from The Boston Conservatory (2011) and a diploma from Walnut Hill School for the Arts, where she trained in the Ballet Division.

Since returning to her home city of K'jipuktuk/Halifax, Lydia has built a substantial body of choreographic work - 14+ works created across a decade for commissioning organizations including Mocean Dance, Atlantic Ballet Theatre, Votive Dance, and Nostos Dance Collectives, with support from the Canada Council for the Arts and Arts Nova Scotia. Landmark works include Mercurials (2022), which toured nationally via Mocean Dance to Dancing on the Edge (Vancouver), the Saint John Contemporary Dance Festival, and the Festival of New Dance (St. John's, NL); and The Devil's Intervals (2023), Zimmerdans' sold-out inaugural full-length production presented by Live Art Dance's Sir James Dunn Theatre.

Her residency history spans Iceland (NES Artist Residency, 2016), Bulgaria (Derida Dance Center, 2017 - selected from 111 international applicants), Canada (Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, 2019 and 2021), and Ireland (Siolta Dance Residency, Galway, 2024). She is the recipient of the 2023 Arts Nova Scotia Emerging Artist Recognition Award.
- IMDb mini biography by: Lydia Zimmer