Julia Rhoads is the founding Artistic Director of Lucky Plush Productions, a MacArthur Award-winning ensemble recognized for its unique blend of dance, theater, comedy, and socially relevant themes. Her work for Lucky Plush has toured to more than 80 venues worldwide, including the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Joyce Theater, Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, ODC, Wellesley Center, and Teatro Las Carolinas. Other choreography credits include Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Steppenwolf Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, and Art on THE MART, the world’s largest digital installation. She is the recipient of an Alpert Award in Dance, and creation and touring awards Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography, National Endowment for the Arts, National Dance Project, and National Theater Project. Rhoads is a former member of the San Francisco Ballet and ensemble member of XSIGHT! Performance Group. She is the Director of Dance and Assistant Senior Instructional Professor in Theater and Performance Studies at the University of Chicago.