Laura Vriend

Laura Vriend is a doctoral candidate in Critical Dance Studies at the University of California, Riverside. She is currently working on her dissertation project, which examines intersections between social and critical theories of space and cultural geography, and choreographic uses/ideas of space in the site-based work of several Philadelphia area choreographers. She grew up on the wind-swept plains of central Canada where she cultivated an appreciation for a peculiar and minimalist beauty. When she is not working on her dissertation, Laura can be found teaching dance composition at Bryn Mawr College or making dances in her living room, kitchen, shower and dreams. Laura has both a scholarly and artistic interest in stillness and awkwardness (including her own) and becomes easily and thoroughly enthralled by these qualities in choreographic works and how they relate to what philosopher Peter Sloterdijk referred to as "the kinetic impulse of modernity". She is both thrilled and honored to be a part of the ThinkingDance project.