Lisa Sundstrom received her early training in her hometown of Astoria, Oregon and at The Marin Ballet in San Rafael, California. Hand-picked by American Ballet Theatre Artistic Director, Mikhail Baryshnikov at 16, for the American Ballet Theatre Scholarship Program, she went on to tour extensively nationally and internationally with ABTII then ABT, performing a wide range of corps de ballet, soloist and principal roles. She joined Pennsylvania Ballet (now Philadelphia Ballet) as a soloist and was quickly promoted to principal dancer.

Ms. Sundstrom’s principal repertoire includes Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Swanhilda in Coppelia, The Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the title roles in Romeo and Juliet and Cinderella. She performed numerous George Balanchine masterpieces and works by Paul Taylor, William Forsythe, Agnes de Mille and José Limón. Ms. Sundstrom worked with choreographers Twyla Tharp, Anthony Tudor, Kenneth MacMillan, Merce Cunningham, Ben Stevenson, Lynne Taylor-Corbett and James Kudelka and was privately coached in principal roles by Gelsey Kirkland, Suzanne Farrell, Robert Joffrey and Peter Martins. In addition, Ms. Sundstrom appeared several times on PBS “Dance in America,” was featured in Dance Magazine and interviewed on radio. Her image appears on postcards, posters and books by renowned dance photographer, Harvey Edwards.

Ms. Sundstrom began her 35-year teaching career as a full-time faculty member at The Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet and at University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She returned to Oregon where she attended college and directed the school and regional performing company of Portland Festival Ballet, staging a full-length The Nutcracker and presenting her choreography at the Pacific Regional Dance America Festival in Southern California.

In 2014, Ms. Sundstrom was invited to join the faculty of OBT School and was named OBT2 Program Director and OBTS Principal Teacher in 2015. While teaching in the school, she rehearsed, coached and staged works for OBT2, booking 20-30 OBT2 presentations annually. Ms. Sundstrom brought OBT2 on tour to Astoria, Hood River, Lincoln City, Medford and Olympia, WA, where she invited local dance troupes to open performances. Ms. Sundstrom’s students have gone on to dance professionally in the US and abroad. As a guest teacher, she has worked in the US, Asia and Europe. Ms. Sundstrom is committed to helping dancers of all levels reach their highest potential.