Laurie M Taylor
Artistic Director, Choreographer
Laurie M. Taylor, MFA, is a Liberian American choreographer, interdisciplinary artist, and entrepreneur. Her work centers around iterative and creative practices of “place,” posing questions around the reconceptualization and functionality of “place” as a thinking-based dance practice—a practice deeply tethered to phenomenology, culture, and states of being. She is an expressionist of African diaspora consciousness in the world of the arts, business, and culture, rendering an interdisciplinary approach that allows for the exploration of creative ideas both in and beyond the studio.
Laurie’s work utilizes frameworks based in performative practice, which can be applied across a multitude of platforms, genres, and industries. Her work as a choreographer and artistic director has morphed into various iterations, including the founding of Soul Movement Global, specializing in movement, creative thought, and artistic ideation as a means of problem-solving in today’s complex markets. She has toured nationally and internationally with her company, Laurie M. Taylor/Soul Movement, as well as with Nicholas Leichter Dance, Urban Bush Women, Francine E. Ott/The Walk, Aguibou Bougubali Sanou, and others. She has performed in the works of Milton Myers, Mark Morris, Ronald K. Brown, Kevin Iega Jeff, and Catherine Dunham, set by Master Artist and former Dunham Company Member, Walter Nicks.
She has taught and performed in over 20 countries, with notable performances at Montpellier Danse Festival, Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival, The Joyce Theater, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Madison Square Garden, Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, and the Strathmore Music Center. Laurie is a University of the Arts Life Experience Fellow, and her work has earned her fellowships with Alvin Ailey’s New Directions Choreographers Lab, The Mertz Gilmore Foundation LSC Grant, and a Diversity Initiative Grant from the University of Delaware. She is a two-time Jerome Foundation/Harlemstage awardee and has worked with artists such as Debbie Allen, Angelique Kidjo, and Darin Atwater’s Soulful Symphony, among others.
With a strong interest in contemporary African identity and its connection to rhythm and sound, Laurie’s work spans many countries, with creative and social impact projects in Liberia, Nigeria, and Ghana, respectively. As an educator, Laurie has held positions such as Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance at University of Calgary, Shenandoah University, Loyola Marymount University, The Ailey/Fordham BFA program, and The Society of Performing Arts in Lagos, Nigeria. She is the author of Infinite Treasure and the Inheritance of Place, published as part of her master’s thesis project by the University of the Arts.
In 2024, Laurie was invited to the inauguration of His Excellency President Joseph Nyumah Boakai of Liberia, West Africa, by the Moniba Foundation, curating cultural arts performances and collaborations with the School of Liberian Arts and Dance. In 2025, she will be performing at EXPO 2025, The World’s Expo in Osaka, Japan. Upcoming projects include research collaborations in AI and dance, along with residencies in Liberia and Ghana, West Africa. She is currently Assistant Professor of Dance, Dance Area Head, and Affiliate Professor at the Center for African American Studies at the University of Texas at Arlington. Through divine providence, she continues to create, thrive, and share as an artist and innovator.
Laurie’s work utilizes frameworks based in performative practice, which can be applied across a multitude of platforms, genres, and industries. Her work as a choreographer and artistic director has morphed into various iterations, including the founding of Soul Movement Global, specializing in movement, creative thought, and artistic ideation as a means of problem-solving in today’s complex markets. She has toured nationally and internationally with her company, Laurie M. Taylor/Soul Movement, as well as with Nicholas Leichter Dance, Urban Bush Women, Francine E. Ott/The Walk, Aguibou Bougubali Sanou, and others. She has performed in the works of Milton Myers, Mark Morris, Ronald K. Brown, Kevin Iega Jeff, and Catherine Dunham, set by Master Artist and former Dunham Company Member, Walter Nicks.
She has taught and performed in over 20 countries, with notable performances at Montpellier Danse Festival, Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival, The Joyce Theater, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Madison Square Garden, Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, and the Strathmore Music Center. Laurie is a University of the Arts Life Experience Fellow, and her work has earned her fellowships with Alvin Ailey’s New Directions Choreographers Lab, The Mertz Gilmore Foundation LSC Grant, and a Diversity Initiative Grant from the University of Delaware. She is a two-time Jerome Foundation/Harlemstage awardee and has worked with artists such as Debbie Allen, Angelique Kidjo, and Darin Atwater’s Soulful Symphony, among others.
With a strong interest in contemporary African identity and its connection to rhythm and sound, Laurie’s work spans many countries, with creative and social impact projects in Liberia, Nigeria, and Ghana, respectively. As an educator, Laurie has held positions such as Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance at University of Calgary, Shenandoah University, Loyola Marymount University, The Ailey/Fordham BFA program, and The Society of Performing Arts in Lagos, Nigeria. She is the author of Infinite Treasure and the Inheritance of Place, published as part of her master’s thesis project by the University of the Arts.
In 2024, Laurie was invited to the inauguration of His Excellency President Joseph Nyumah Boakai of Liberia, West Africa, by the Moniba Foundation, curating cultural arts performances and collaborations with the School of Liberian Arts and Dance. In 2025, she will be performing at EXPO 2025, The World’s Expo in Osaka, Japan. Upcoming projects include research collaborations in AI and dance, along with residencies in Liberia and Ghana, West Africa. She is currently Assistant Professor of Dance, Dance Area Head, and Affiliate Professor at the Center for African American Studies at the University of Texas at Arlington. Through divine providence, she continues to create, thrive, and share as an artist and innovator.