Lisa Petty has worked as a performer, teacher, movement director or choreographer for many years in tertiary institutions and theatre companies.  After graduating from college, Lisa studied and worked in New York, where she studied and performed for ten years. There, she revelled in working in a wide range of dance and theatre, including Contemporary and Jazz companies, Latin Cabaret, Musicals and Dramatic theatre.

In Australia, Lisa has collaborated with both professionals and students in a wide range of dance, theatre and opera productions including Twelfth Night, Squizzy, Our Country’s Good, Macbeth, Cloud 9, Alice in Wonderland, The Emperor’s New Clothes, The Chapel Perilous and The Rise and Fall of Mahagonny.  Lisa has worked with the Arts Centre Melbourne, Melbourne Opera, The National Theatre, Victorian College of the Arts, Monash University, Victoria University in addition to many private institutions and companies.

In 2022, Lisa re-staged a production of Dear Ida at La Mama Theatre Melbourne. This work was a result of her research into the role of social dance on the WWII Australian home-front.