PAUL LAZAR (CO-DIRECTOR) is a founding member and co-Artistic Director of Big Dance Theater. He has co-directed and acted in over a dozen full-length works for BDT, including commissions from The Walker Art Center, Dance Theater Workshop, Classic Stage Co. and Japan Society. He received a BESSIE for Sustained Achievement in 2002 and was nominated for a CalArts/Alpert Award in 2000 and 2001.

Paul Lazar has acted in over 30 feature films. His credits include The Host, Mickey Blue Eyes, Silence of the Lambs, Beloved, Lorenzo's Oil, Philadelphia, Henry Fool, Six Ways to Sunday, Married to the Mob, Trapped in Paradise, Speechless, and Stars Fell on Henrietta.

Paul has appeared in work by Young Jean Lee, Richard Maxwell, and most recently he performed in Three Sisters directed by Austin Pendelton. He directed Young Jean Lee's "We're Gonna Die." He performed in Mac Wellman's solo piece, 1965UU, at The Chocolate Factory in New York City in 2008 as well as in Suzanne Bocanegra’s “When a Priest Marries a Witch”.. He has been an Associate Member of The Wooster Group, acting in Brace Up!, Emperor Jones and North Atlantic, and The Hairy Ape. Other stage credits include Richard III at Classic Stage Company, and Irene Fornes' MUD at the Signature Theater.

At New York University Paul has directed many plays including works by Anne Washburne, Botho Strauss, Len Jenkin, and Werner Fassbinder. His teaching credits include courses in acting and directing at New York University's Undergraduate Drama Department and Experimental Theater Wing, Rutgers University, The William Esper Studio, The Michael Howard Studio and Rutgers University, among others.