Alum Feature: Laura Mead

As we continue to celebrate BBT's 40th Anniversary, we are delighted to share thoughts and memories from BBT Alum.

I studied at BBT only during my high school years (1998 - 2002), but I’ve returned there nearly every trip home since then, so my relationship with BBT feels like a deep part of who I am. As you all know, it’s a remarkably homey, welcoming place—while also keeping up a rigor and timeless devotion to the craft.

I had already been committed to my training when I came to BBT, but I credit it with giving me my “finishing touches” that allowed for my acceptance at Juilliard and my long career beyond. In particular, the emphasis on honing expression (not through emoting but through a breadth of physical imagination) has informed my dancing immeasurably. In particular, I’m grateful for the influences of Sally, Sonya Delwaide, Ann Fisher, and Corinne Jonas.

In fact, several times, BBT has helped me directly in my professional career. In 2003, I was apprenticing with American Repertory Ballet when Corinne Jonas called to tell me that she had a connection on Twyla Tharp’s Movin’ Out tour, and would I like to audition? I got the job and danced with Twyla for over half a decade, collaborating on several shows and projects. Thanks, Corinne.

Susan Weber, too, has been a connector and an advocate for me, and I’m always thrilled to see her when I go back.

Daisy Phillips, Frances Stohlman, Rosy Goodman, and I were very close at BBT, and I’m delighted to say that I still count them as warm friends. Now, we keep up about not just our careers but also our kids.

Besides Twyla, I’ve had the good fortune of dancing with a great many companies and projects, most notably Jessica Lang Dance. Now, with a three-year-old and in a COVID world, I’m adding to my repertoire by beginning graduate school at Pratt in Dance/Movement Therapy. I’m thrilled to take on this new role, but I’ll always be a dancer. You’ll catch me in Berkeley every so often, and I’ll be sure to drop in at BBT: ready to put my right hand on the barre (never done that anywhere else), and feeling glad and grateful to be moving in the place I think of as my dance home.

Photo by BBT

Post:ballet 2014, Photo by Natalia Perez