I have been out of touch with classes for three months and just took Seanna's Contemporary fusion for the first time. she warned it might be hard, so i got scared but she took it slow and broke down the steps enough to pick up like i never missed a class! It was a great class!
Lauren Runions is a contemporary dancer, choreographer and
educator based in Toronto. She is a graduate of the Performance
Dance Studies program at George Brown College in 2012. Since then,
Lauren has worked with talented artists including Courtnae Bowman,
Lucy Rupert, Brian Solomon, Dave Wilson, Hanna Kiel Amy Hampton,
Malgorzata Nowacka, Lydia Zimmer, Kyra Jean Green, Kathleen Rea,
Alysa Pires, Luches Huddleston Jr, Noemie Lafrance, Polynomials
Dance, Colleen Snell/Frog in Hand, Nicholas Walsh/Theatre TOnight
(Canadian Stage) and In'trinzik Dance Project. She most recently
performed with Polynomials Dance + Movement Theatre, Alysa Pires
Dance Projects, Parahumans, Lydia Zimmer + Dancers (Halifax) and a
company member of Cadence Progressive Contemporary Ballet
(2012-2016). She can also be seen in music videos including
“Century” by Feist with direction by Scott Cudmore and “Bring the
Pressure Washer (BTPW)” by New Fries with direction by Maryanne
Casasanta.
Lauren continues to find her creative passion for choreography. She draws inspiration from architecture, her favourite writers and the lived experience. She has choreographed works for George Brown College and Cadence Ballet and commissioned to create works on youth companies at Kingston School of Dance, The School of Cadence Ballet, Kalos and Carousel Dance Centre. Lauren has also shown her work in Dance Ontario Dance Weekend (winner of the Audience Choice award 2015), the Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival (2014 and 2015) and the Lab Cab Festival.
Lauren is the artistic director of I/O Movement, an emerging contemporary dance project focused in collaborative site-specific work. This project is interested in making dance and performance art more accessible. I/O has performed at Gallery 1313 (in collaboration with Lois Schklar), The Black Cat Artspace (in collaboration with Rebecca Munce), Winchester Street Theatre, Surface 2015 Art Party and Fair in 99 Sudbury and 2016 at Artscape Sandbox, OCAD U Student Gallery (curated by Mary Ma), White Wall Studios in Montreal (curated by Kyra Jean Green) and Dutch Dreams for New Blue Dance Festival 2016 and 2017 at 918 Bathurst, CineCycle and Dragon Academy (Roundtable Residency).
As a choreographer, Lauren is interested in the relationship between body and site. Her work hopes to offer solitude and introspection while investigating space, place and environment. She experiments with ideas of expressing, enhancing and reviving site by introducing the moving body/collective. Lauren continues to study and consciously/unconsciously establish themes of 'home' into her work and practice. Her swelling infatuation with photography, design and ways of seeing perpetuates her instinct to capture and present moments of form, shape and texture. Collaboration with artists continues to enrich her work, but she also values the independence of personal practice.
Lauren is also an active teacher and student within the Toronto community. She has participated in multiple process-based residencies including The Living Room Series (in partnership with Valence Movement), PERSPECTIVE 2017 (Connection Dance Works, New Brunswick) and The Roundtable Residency. Lauren continues to search for learning opportunities and share.
