Lydia Johnson Dance is the in-house dance company at South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC). Founded in 1999, Lydia Johnson Dance is known for its distinctive choreography which combines ballet and modern dance.

Lydia Johnson, the founder of the institution, has studied at SUNY Purchase and The Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. She has worked with people like Finis Jhung, Rosalind Newman and Sara Rudner. She was the founder and a co-director of One Night Stand, a series of co-operative showcases, which presented over one hundred new works by emerging and established choreographers in New York.

In the past, Lydia Johnson Dance has been awarded a Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation grant in 2008 and is a past recipient of a Garden State Arts Foundation Grant. It has also received a Harkness Dance Center Space Grant from the 92nd Street Y in New York.

The company is made up of seven to twelve dancers with extensive training and experience in ballet. Lydia Johnson Dance offers classes for children of all ages. Classes are held at SOPAC and Burgdorff Cultural Center in Maplewood. Ballet, dance and choreography classes are offered.