We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lea Lachey a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Lea thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
The most meaningful project to date is on a show I created called label•less. It is a project that my husband and I started working on 4 years ago dealing with racism, self worth, homophobia, sexism, disability, classism and bullying. Label•less is a musical journey towards acceptance focusing on the issues that affect our society. With our passionate cast we have performed this production multiple times and we will be touring it in the spring of 2023.
This project is like my third child. This cast and creative team is a family. One of the most life changing pieces of art I have ever been a part of. We hope to change the world with its inspiring message.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
My very first love was dance. There is still nothing like it for me. To move your body and fully let go is one of the greatest gifts. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a city where there was an abundance of art at my finger tips and was lucky enough to attend the School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati where I trained from 9-18yrs old. I received a full dance scholarship to Marymount Manhattan college and soon after was dancing professionally. The natural progression was to move into choreography and if I’m being honest it had always called to me. I used to create full productions for my family to watch in our living room. Putting on a vinyl record from my parents collection, listening to the song and its lyrics and then loosing myself in creative movement. It was pure joy. My first professional choreography job was with 98 Degrees. Many people think I was handed the job since my then boyfriend and now husband is in the group but that is not how it went at all. In fact I had just finished reading The Artists Way( a book that I recommend to all artists) and it had given me this new determination and courage to dream bigger and think outside of the box. Somehow I knew at the very young age of 22 that in order to be taken seriously I had to go directly to 98’s management team. Scared is an understatement! But this mid western girl scheduled a meeting and they agreed to give me 3 songs to choreograph. If the record company and team liked what they saw I had the job. I guess I did ok because 20 years later I am still working with the guys. I will be forever thankful to my 98 Degrees family and because that first choreography job went so very well I have worked on multiple choreography jobs ranging from theater, concerts, tours, tv and film all over the world. So the moral of that story is when the door opens be ready. When opportunity presents itself rise to the challenge and meet your goals head on.
After living in NY and Los Angeles for close to 15 years my husband and I decided to make the move back to Cincinnati to raise our two kids close to family. A very hard decision. One that we knew would mean more traveling back and forth to LA and NY but one of the best decisions we ever made. We created our non profit Lachey Arts in 2012 with its mission being to build a diverse community of young artists, empowering the creative spirit and giving the confidence to change the world. What started as a two week summer camp has turned into a full fledged company. We have been training the next generation of artists for over 10 years and it has completely changed our lives for the better. We have past students working all over the world, students in colleges all over the country and we are happily teaching in our studio on a regular basis. And as wonderful as all of that is the thing that makes me the most proud is our Lachey Arts community. Artists that care about the world, have empathy for people and want to give back. They give me hope each and every day. And I hope that I inspire them as much as they inspire me.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
The best way to support artists and creatives is to get out there and support them. Go see a theatrical show, go to the ballet, an art exhibit, poetry reading or go listen to music. Try something new. Artists are all around us and they make this world of ours a much brighter place. I believe art is therapeutic so go try class in an art form you have always been curious about. I have many adults in some of my classes that just want to try something new. And as frightened as they are when they first come in to the studio, they leave feeling empowered and joyful.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
My mission is to create art that moves people whether it be happy, sad or make you slightly uncomfortable. Through art I believe that we grow as people. We can see what it’s like to walk in some else’s shoes. I hope that with these artistic goals I can bring our show label•less to the world.
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Image Credits
Angie Lipscomb and Brian Douglas