LORI MURILLO

Lori is originally from the Dallas area, where she grew up in the dance world with the joint experience of being trained in the studio as well as being a “drill team” girl. Not quite finished with her drill team experience, she went to Kilgore College after graduating from high school, where she became a member of the Kilgore College Rangerettes.  Some of the more exciting events from those two years as a Rangerette are serving as Captain her sophomore year, being a featured performer in the 1994 World Cup halftime show, and performing in the famous “Festival of Lights” in Nice, France. After Kilgore, Lori moved to Austin to begin a career of studio teaching, dance team directing, and freelance choreography all over the nation. She was a Senior Instructor for Starmakers Dance and Drill Team Performance Company for 12 years and a charter instructor for Sheer Dance Conventions under Starmakers. From 2000-2007, Lori was Co-Choreographer for the Mike Miller and Associates Dance Company in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. She was also the Co-Choreographer for the AT&T Cotton Bowl Halftime Classic performance on New Year’s Day from 2002-2007.

Lori first came to Dancers Workshop in 1997 and she fell in love! That year, she began teaching for Dawn Weiss both as a studio instructor and an instructor for Believe In Me, a character education and performance program where Dawn was Artistic Director. After 4 years with this program, Lori followed Dawn and became an instructor of Something’s Afoot, Dawn’s new children’s program at Pillow Elementary School. In 1999, Lori joined Marla Valk at Westwood High School as a dance instructor, a charter instructor of the RRISD Fine Arts Academy housed at Westwood, and Assistant Director of the Sun Dancers. In 2003, she left Austin for a new directing opportunity in the Dallas area. She returned to her alma mater, South Garland High School, alongside Allyson Wegehoft , and together they created a new dance program, directed the JV program, and were Co-Directors of the Southern Belles.

But, after three years, they missed Austin and were blessed to be able to return to home! During that time that immediately followed coming home, Lori  was a 2006 TDEA Convention dance instructor and returned the following year to the convention as a Co-Choreographer for the 2007 All-State production. For Lori, coming back to Austin meant coming back to Dancers Workshop as a full-time dance instructor! In the past three years, she has been teaching a range of classes here at the Workshop, is a choreographer/instructor for ADW, and the Director of Vision Competition Dance Company. In her “free time”, she does freelance choreography, master class teaching, motivational and leadership workshops, and adjudicates various dance contests all over the nation, as well as a three-year staff member for Encore Creative Productions.  Lori is also a dancer for Restoration Dance, a Christian dance company directed by Monica Schraeder, and a mom to a beautiful Labrador, Laguna!