Laura Karlin

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Laura Karlin, Artistic Director
Artistic Director

Laura Karlin is the Founder and Artistic Director of Invertigo Dance Theatre.

Laura Karlin is a teacher, choreographer, and movement activist. Her work for Invertigo has been presented at venues including the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ford Amphitheatre, Los Angeles Theatre Center, Broad Stage, and LACMA. As the company’s choreographer, she collaborates with her dancers to create virtuosic interdisciplinary dance theatre works. She has created over 40 pieces for the company, eight of which have been full evening-length works. Her work is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the California Arts Council, LA County Arts Commission, and the New England Foundation for the Arts. Laura’s choreographic style combines whimsy with intense physicality, telling stories from multiple nuanced perspectives and inviting audiences to experience a wide range of dynamics and emotional contexts.

Laura graduated from Cornell University with a dual degree in Choreography/Production and Pre-Law/LGBTQ Civil Rights. She studied dance theatre and contemporary dance in London, also choreographing for and performing with Synergy Dance Theatre, Snapdragon Dance and the prestigious Resolution! Festival. Laura established Invertigo in 2007 with the aim of contributing a vibrant dance institution to the Los Angeles arts scene.

As an independent choreographer, Laura has been commissioned by the LA Contemporary Dance Company, Celebrate Dance, and the Southern California Dance Invitational.  She has taught and been a guest artist at Loyola Marymount University, Santa Monica College, Pierce College, La Companyia in Barcelona, and University California, Santa Barbara. Additionally, she has established ongoing partnerships with other non-profit arts organizations in LA, including choreographing for and performing alongside the Independent Shakespeare Company for ten summers.

She was the Grand Prize Winner of the McCallum Choreography Festival in 2016.

Laura approaches dance as a way to establish communication and trust among her dancers, students, and audiences, bringing together groups diverse in age, ability, access, and background through the joy of movement.  Her social and political engagement is subtly infused in her life and, as a necessary extension, in her work as well. This serves as the basis for her audition and choreographic processes, as well as Invertigo’s education and community programming. When she isn’t in the Invertigo office or rehearsal room, Laura can be found teaching Invert/ED and Dancing Through Parkinson’s classes, practicing sustainable gardening in her home, or in the world camping and traveling.

Read an interview with Laura about her most recent work here.

 

 

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