Lachan Niedbala

Artistic Director & Founder
Lachan Niedbala is a professional dancer, choreographer, and educator based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. With over two decades of dance training and nearly a decade of experience in choreographing, Lachan has established herself as a versatile force in the dance community. After graduating from Hope College with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography, she performed with companies such as CPR Dance: Inhale Movement, Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers, Chamberlain Dance Company, Atelier Dance Company, and Tapestry Dance Company. She has choreographed for a wide range of platforms, with her work being performed both nationally and internationally. Lachan’s choreography has been featured in prestigious festivals such as RADfest (2021, 2022, 2024), Detroit Dance City Festival (2023, 2024), Emergence Dance by Alluvion Dance Chicago (2019), DaCi USA (2023), Oakland Dance Festival (2024), and invited to perform her work in Paris, France during her undergraduate training. Lachan has choreographed for dance companies including Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers, Zeeland Dance Company, Chamberlain Dance, Atelier Dance Company, and Novi Dance Program. She has been a Maggie Allesee finalist in 2024 and has been selected to showcase her work in various festivals nationally. 

​​As a passionate educator, Lachan has been teaching professionally since 2019 after almost a decade of experience as a student/assistant teacher. Her masterclasses have been featured at organizations such as Young Dancers Initiative, Oakland Dance Festival, Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers, and Ballet Kalamazoo. She had the great privilege to direct Wellspring's Youth Performance Ensemble for almost five years before she stepped back to pursue her MFA. In 2022, Lachan founded Movement Reservoir Dance Company, where she serves as the Artistic Director leading the company in its creative endeavors, while facilitating exploration through dance as creative expression and supporting artists as they pursue their artistic goals within dance. Through MRDC, she has been curating and producing innovative dance concerts, performing and collaborating within the Kalamazoo community and beyond, and sharing space with local dancers in their dance journeys.  

In addition to her work with Movement Reservoir, Lachan is a co-founder of the West Michigan Dance Festival and serves on the board of Dance Playhouse and Michigan Dance Council. She has also been involved in festival and event productions, having volunteered for the Wellspring Community Outreach Committee in 2019-2020 and interned for Brighton Dance Festival (2018 )and RADfest (2020.) Now she is currently the Studio Manager at BSD Dance Studio in Portage, Michigan. 

In addition to her work supporting the dance community, Lachan is also passionate about continually learning more to add to her teaching skills and artistry. While she is certified to teach Horton Modern Dance Technique from MIU and PBT (Progressive Ballet Technique) Level I, she is continuing to study to earn her PBT Level II, Yoga 200, and additional training in Leadership and Holistic Pedagogy skills. She is a current student at Jacksonville University where she is working towards her Master of Fine Arts in Dance Choreography.

 Lachan aspires to create a dance community that is authentic, intentional, and encouraging of each individual's pursuit in their dance journey while holding both a high expectation of dance technique and training the body with safe practices. Dance is truly a vulnerable act and can only be explored in its fullest capacities within a supportive and uplifting community. One cannot be open to taking risk and making mistakes unless they are in a safe and nurturing community. Dance is meant for anyone and everyone and Lachan seeks to help people discover how dance plays a role in their lives and to see movement from new perspectives.