Risa Cohen was born in Calcutta, India. She grew up in Germany, the United States, and England where she studied dance at the Contemporary Dance School of London. After graduating from university, she moved to New York City where she spent five years performing with The Margolis Brown Company. Risa has won several awards for her choreography including the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council Grant, The Minnesota State Arts Board's Artist Initiative Grant, and was awarded a Momentum: New Dance Works Commission. Her work has been presented numerous times at the Minnesota Fringe Festival, Choreographer's Evening at the Walker Art Center and Red Eyes, Isolated Acts Series.