My name is Laila J. Franklin.
I am a choreographer, performer, teacher, administrator, somatic body worker, guerilla archivist, barista, amateur DJ, and cat mom.
My work extends from lineages of traditional and experimental Black, queer dance makers, with a particular interest in the collision of postmodernist creation frameworks and story ballet. I work to activate my extensive formal training background in ballet, classical modern, release technique modern, and contact improvisation, alongside my social dance proclivities - family reunion hand dancing and hours long trance dancing in clubs - to explore kinetic imagination through the rigor of technically complex, thematically approachable, and kinesthetically gripping performances.
I make dance because I must, even when it is difficult.
I improvise, I score, I fail, I score again, I usually laugh, there is a small chance I cry, and in that case, I have tissues.
Thank you for being here.
Laila J. Franklin is a multidisciplinary dance artist based in ancestral Naumkeag, Massachusett, Pawtucket land (Boston, Massachusetts), by way of ancestral Nacotchtank and Piscataway land (Washington, DC.)
Laila’s work has been commissioned by Brown University, Salem State University, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, and Urbanity2, and shared through Public Space One (IA), Sideways Door Festival (MA), Cotuit Dance Festival (MA), Brooklyn Art Haus (NY), School of Contemporary Dance and Thought (MA), Movement Research at The Judson Church (NY), Philadelphia Fringe Festival (PA), Motion State Arts (RI), Mechanics' Hall (ME), and The Dance Complex (MA). She has been the recipient of a Boston Center for the Arts' Run of the Mills Residency (2022), Dancemakers Laboratory Residency (2022/2023), and Boston Dancemakers Residency (2023/2024), and is currently a Boston Next Steps Grantee. She was featured in Art New England Magazine as a 2023 Emerging Artist and in Dance Magazine as one of their 2024 "25 to Watch"
While completing her master's degree, Laila received an Iowa Arts Fellowship (2019-2021), and post-grad, she served as a Dance/USA Archiving and Preservation Fellow (2023) to Jennifer Harge/HargeDanceStories in Detroit, MI, and continues to contribute to her archival research. She has served as a dramaturg for detritus dance (MA) and an archival research assistant to Stew Stewart at Harvard University.
As a performer, Laila’s credits include projects with Miguel Gutierrez, Dr. Christopher-Rasheem McMillan, Melinda Jean Myers, Stephanie Miracle, Ruckus Dance (MA), and detritus dance (MA). While an undergraduate student, Laila had the opportunity to perform as a featured dancer in works by Keith Thompson, Aszure Barton, and Mark Morris.
Laila has been working as a teaching artist since 2018. She has taught community dance class series and shared lectures in the Greater Boston Area, most prominently with Midday Movement Series and VLA Dance. She has served as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Iowa and was a Visiting Lecturer in Music and Dance at Salem State University (MA). Expanding on her work in education, she also serves as a consultant and collaborator for social justice education projects and programming for Midday Movement Series. In summers, Laila serves on the Youth Dance Intensive Mentorship team at Bates Dance Festival, serving as the Residential Director.
Laila holds a Master of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Iowa, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Contemporary Dance Performance from The Boston Conservatory, and she is a proud almuna of the dance department of Duke Ellington School of the Arts (DC), where she studied under the direction of Charles Augins. She has completed additional training through the Trinity Laban Conservatoire (LDN), the Lion's Jaw Dance and Performance Festival (MA), Movement Research (NY), The Field Center (VT), and the Bates Dance Festival (ME).
When Laila is not making dances, she is making coffee. When she is not making coffee, she is hanging out with her cat, Roberta.
Photo by Laila J. Franklin
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