George Lugg is a producer, curator, and consultant who has been working in the field of contemporary performance for 30 years. As a producer, he currently works for CalArts Center for New Performance and with independent artists Faye Driscoll and Emily Johnson. Recent projects include the world premiere and current touring of Driscoll’s Thank You For Coming: Space; and the Chicagou/Chicago edition of Johnson’s Then a Cunning Voice and a Night We Spend Gazing at Stars, a 15-hour all-night outdoor performance gathering and feast, presented in partnership with Dance Center of Columbia College, American Indian Center of Chicago, and Calumet Park/Chicago Parks District.
George began his career at On the Boards in Seattle in 1990. He joined the founding team that launched the Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT) in Los Angeles in 2003, where he served as Associate Director for a decade. He oversaw REDCAT’s programs designed to incubate emerging artists and foster new works, including seven editions of its New Original Works Festival which provided early-stage support for artists across performance practices, including Miwa Matreyek, Emily Mast, Wu Tsang, Lars Jan/Early Morning Opera, Kristina Wong, Alexandro Segade, Baker & Tarpaga Dance Project, Prumsodun Ok, Poor Dog Group, Timur Bekbosunov, and many others. He was an Associate Producer for both editions of RADAR L.A., an international festival of contemporary theater presented by REDCAT in collaboration with Center Theatre Group and The Public Theater's Under the Radar Festival (2011, 2013).
As a curator, he has partnered with a variety in Los Angeles institutions and venues—including Grand Performances, Los Angeles Performance Practice, UCLA’s World Arts and Cultures/Dance and Ace Hotel—to present leading national performance makers, often in their L.A. debut, including Okwui Okpokwasili, Michelle Ellsworth, Miguel Gutierrez, Emily Johnson, Becca Blackwell and Jeanine Durning, and world premiere works by Los Angeles based artist, including d. Sabela Grimes, Milka Djordjevich, and Micaela Taylor.
He served as Hub Site Representative for New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project (2012–14), Lead Program Consultant in the Performing Arts for the Creative Capital Foundation (2012), and on the U.S. curatorial team for the National Performance Network’s Performing Arts Asia Project (2011) and Performing Americas Project (2009–10), as well as panels and juries for Creative Capital, United States Artists, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, Santa Monica Arts Commission, among others.
In 2014 he was awarded a Horton Award for his service to the field, and currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors for Dance Camera West. He graduated with honors from the University of Washington with a B.A. in Dance.