To round up our “Meet the Associate Artists” of Season 6, we finish with our own Lourdes Taylor! Lourdes started out with us in season 5 and was promoted this season to Associate Artist. We love her, you love her, and here’s more about her:

Age: 24

Hometown: Chicago

Favorite Color: Pink

Favorite style of dance: Ballet and classic jazz

Favorite Choreographer: Hope Boykin

When I started dancing: age 2

College: Haverford College

Siblings: 1 younger brother, Noah, age 21

Why do you feel passionate about dance?: I honestly love dance because of the people. Being around people who want to invest into creating thoughtful, genuine art to share with others is mutually infectious. Dancing with people who value one another and diversity in movement makes life better. 

If you weren’t a dancer, what career would you choose?: I would be a fiction writer! I would write science fiction novels, children’s books, and short stories, which I still do now.

If you could do a duet with one person, who would it be?: Not sure if this was the aim of the question– but I would love to do a duet with Solange! She’s such a wonderful artist and I would be floored to do any kind of duet (collaboration where she sings and I dance, or where we both dance) with her. 

Favorite place you’ve traveled: Trinidad and Tobago. I guess it makes sense, since my family is Caribbean, that I would love another Caribbean country, but I’ve never felt so immediately at ease being somewhere. Before traveling there, I had never been to a country where being Black is the norm; mundane. It was the best experience– plus, the country is beautiful and the food is amazing. 

Favorite food: Mango, or fried plantains. 

One word to describe yourself: deadpan 

If you had a dance move that described you, what would it be?: allongé! It’s like just-add-water ballet; a portable line on any part of the body. You can do it in arabesque, with one arm at the barre, from the floor, etc. Warm or cold, high or low, it’s always there 🙂

Fun facts: 3, in order from most to least interesting: 1. I have predicted 4 pregnancies for people who both did and didn’t know they were pregnant, (and the sex that would be assigned at birth of the baby). 2. I can wiggle my ears. 3. I’m in a PhD program