Dana Wieluns Legawiec (pronounced “Luh-GAHV-yetz”) is a theatre artist, teaching artist, arts educator, creative facilitator, and arts leadership consultant. Her creative practice centers on Physical Theatre and Ensemble-Devised works. 

An original founding member and Co-Artistic Director of Ziggurat Theatre Ensemble, Dana has contributed to nearly every project as an actor, movement coach, choreographer, mask performance coach or director since its inception in 1996. Ziggurat Theatre Ensemble continues to garner critical acclaim for its highly stylized, visually stunning works of physical theatre, reviving its commedia dell’arte – inspired original masked comedy Fafalo! and family-friendly fantasia Aquitania for outdoor performances in 2020 and 2021, safely presenting live outdoor theatre throughout the COVID pandemic. In June 2022, Ziggurat Theatre Ensemble premiered its latest play Caravan of Dreams, a site-specific performance in collaboration with the Desert of Maine Center for Art + Ecology.

Additionally, Dana is an Artistic Associate for the Bath and Camden Shakespeare Festivals, leading physical theatre training and movement direction for those companies.

Dana’s creative process is shaped by decades-long collaborations with playwrights, directors, and choreographers in Los Angeles’ avant-garde performance scene. As an actor, Dana developed original plays with Padua Playwrights Productions, including the world premieres of Murray Mednick’s Joe and Betty, Gary’s Walk, and Clown Show for Bruno. She was a member of dance-theatre ensemble Rosanna Gamson/World Wide for over a decade, performing and teaching at festivals in the US and Canada.

Since moving to Maine in 2010, Dana performs with her own companies, as well as with Celebration Barn Theater, Heartwood Theater Company, Figures of Speech Theater, the Holocaust and Human Rights Center, Mad Horse Theater Company, the Theater Project, and as a teaching artist with Portland Stage Company. She has been collaborating with playwright Bess Welden since 2018 on the staging of her new play Death Wings, which has evolved into a touring, collaborative, multimedia offering involving art installation, community workshops and performance. Dana is a member of adjunct faculty with the Department of Theatre at the University of Southern Maine and a Visiting Artist with the Department of Theater and Dance at Colby College.

As a community-based Teaching Artist, Dana uses physical theatre to empower and elevate the voices of the very young in rural Maine.  She draws upon three decades’ experience working in ensemble theater to develop programs for children that celebrate individuality within collaboration while fostering deep connections to place. She was named a Creative Community Fellow by National Arts Strategies in recognition of her work making theatre with children in rural Maine. After witnessing the transformational potential of the elementary school play, Dana has founded The School Play Project to design and implement extracurricular creative drama programs for elementary schools in the state and region, and to research and advocate for free, high-quality participatory creative theatre-making for children.

Dana leads workshops in Physical Theatre, Movement, Mask and Ensemble for students of all ages, and has worked as an Artist in Residence through the Building Community through the Arts program with the Maine Alliance for Arts Education.  In 2017 she was selected as a Teaching Artist Leader for the Maine Arts Leadership Institute (MALI) and is a member of MALI’s Vision Team for 2019-2020. 

Dana received her BA in English Literature and a Certificate in Theatre & Dance from Princeton University; is a graduate of the Physical Theatre Training Program at Dell’Arte International; and completed her Masters of Education, Arts in Education, at Harvard. Additional training includes Suzuki/Viewpoints/Composition with Anne Bogart and the SITI Company; Gender Bending with Anna Deavere Smith; Laban/Bartenieff Fundamentals with Peggy Hackney; Acrobatics and Polyharmonies with Teatr Chorea of Lodz, Poland; Essential Movements of Lecoq with Yuval Boim. Dana holds professional certification in creative facilitation in Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process. Most recently, Dana completed the Executive Program in Arts and Culture Strategy through National Arts Strategies in partnership with University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Social Impact Strategy.