Ralph Lemon (born August 1, 1952 in Cincinnati, Ohio) was raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Lemon has been classified as many things; an African American dancer, a choreographer, company director, a writer and a visual artist but he chooses to categorize himself as a conceptualist.
He was raised in a religious environment where as a child he developed his artistic creativity.
Early in his career, he used painting as a source of expression, and as he discovered dance he utilized movement as a physical way of expression.