We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lauren Davis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lauren below.
Lauren, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I truly always knew dance was it for me. I never questioned it. My mom wrote letters to me as a baby/toddler, and in the earliest of letters to me, she wrote, “you’ve said you want to be a dancer, I wonder if you can know this at such an early age.” I never had to be coaxed into dance, because the desire to pursue it came from so deep within that no one ever had to motivate me that way. The kind of love I have for it is unending, as is my desire to share that love with other people. I continue to find new levels to that deep love, and new reasons to continue with it, but it never goes away or lessens, even through the hardship associated with a career in the arts.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I started with a concert dance background, with ballet being my primary focus until I was 14. From there, I entered the competition world, where I branched out and developed a deep love for all genres of dance. This led me to graduating with my BFA in Commercial Dance from Hussian College Los Angeles. I was attracted to the program’s versatility, since I truly could not pick a style of dance I loved most to major in, and I wanted to work in all genres. Currently, I am a freelance dancer/choreographer in the Dallas area, while also teaching dance and performing as a Bombshells dancer for the Frisco Fighters indoor football team. I bring a blend of technique and style to my choreography and teaching, as I believe one cannot be valued more than the other, since both are essential to following with current trends in the industry. I suppose I’m most proud of how I have juggled my own career as a dancer while also cultivating and nurturing the careers of my students, passing along the lessons I have learned while still practicing what I preach.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Initially, I got into teaching without realizing how rewarding it is to have a positive impact on the life of a child. I’ve always loved children, but it wasn’t until I spent extensive time with the same kids each week that I began to see the difference I was making for them take shape. Every “thank you” or hug from my students means the world to me — they don’t understand yet how it feels to be appreciated and loved in that way. I’ve developed a deeper appreciation for my own teachers and mentors from being on the other side of things, and I now understand how hard they worked and what the time they invested in me meant to them. When I’m in “student mode,” I want to be the student every teacher wants, but when I’m in “teacher mode,” I want to be the teacher I never had.
Have you ever had to pivot?
No doubt COVID threw everyone for a loop, but my world was turned upside down… I graduated college in April of 2020, and there were no dance jobs, no dance classes, nothing. I was quite hopeless for a time that all of my hard work over the past two decades had been for nothing, that I would never get to perform again. I began teaching as a way to stay involved in the industry while looking for performance opportunities in the area. After booking my first major gig post COVID, I cried tears of joy at the prospect of performing again. Ever since, I have been endlessly grateful and more appreciative of each chance to take class and perform. It rekindled my love for dance because I had to want it 100 times more than I did before, since opportunities were now few and far between (as if they weren’t slim enough in such a competitive industry).
Contact Info:
- Website: www.laurenrdavis.com
- Instagram: @laurenruthdavis
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauren.davis.52493499/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkBvtUGWvVVzebbPP3_a2Qw
Image Credits
Dominic Ceraldi Eric Aaberg