Artists Learn and Share: Lauren Horn

In the Artist Learn-and-Share series, NEFA connects with grantees to learn more about the impact of the grant on their work. In this blog, Lauren describes her experience with New England Dance Fund. New England Dance Fund is currently accepting applications through September 13, 2024. 

As a Connecticut based artist, I found the New England Dance Fund to be pivotal in my development as an emerging choreographer. When I applied for this grant, I was in the midst of working on “Renaissance Gyal,” a choreographic work set on a cast of Black women that explores the ways in which Black women have set a precedence for culture in America, while simultaneously being erased. Inspired by the Harlem and European Renaissances, this piece frames Black creativity in movement, music, art, and style as a continuous cultural boom deserving of both deference and celebration. In “Renaissance Gyal,” the term Black unites and tells the stories of those of Afro-Caribbean, Afro-Latino, Afro-American, and African heritage who have come to live in America. At the time, I had completed the creation of an 18-minute film version of the work and was yearning to develop it into an hour-long evening length work. I was at a point where I needed more funding to continue developing this project and I didn’t know where it would come from. The New England Dance Fund offered me the opportunity to keep my rehearsal process going, during a time of great uncertainty. Without these funds, I would have had to put the work on hold, and that pause may have ended the work’s trajectory. However, with the support of the New England Dance Fund, I was able to keep rehearsing, and better plan out the funding, creation, and presentation of this work.

Ultimately, I was able to realize this work in its fullest capacity. Working alongside local producer Jasmin Agosto of Sageseeker Productions, I was able to hold over 28 rehearsals, produce a garden party event that encouraged community collaboration, produce smaller pop-up performances of excerpts of the dance, hold five film presentations, and produce a final hour-long presentation of the work. For events, we hired local food vendors, craft vendors, and local artists to create arts-based workshops. Through this process I was able to work with the wonderful musicians of The Lost Tribe, a women led eight-person band; Nzinga’s Daughters, a five-person, women led band; classical cellist Johnathan Moore; and a two-person band composed of Erica Tracy and Michael Carabello. 

Through my work with "Renaissance Gyal," I was able to get to know my local Black community better and provide them with a safe and comfortable space to witness art and be vulnerable. The work allowed me to widen my local network, and forge deeper connections with other artists working in my area. I feel a deep sense of pride that I created a memorable event that touched the hearts of the many generations who witnessed it.

The New England Dance Fund gave me the space to see that it is possible for me to create the performance of my dreams. By moving more slowly, I was able to develop my work into what I truly wanted. The extra funded rehearsal time gave me space to discover that if I plan accordingly, I can cultivate the audience, venue, and performance model that truly fits my way of working. I’ve learned so much throughout this process. I have grown as an artist and as a businesswoman. Making "Renaissance Gyal" has felt like an endless learning process, but I wouldn’t change anything, because creating at this level is what I have been dreaming about for most of my life. I’m so thankful to have received this grant, which has allowed me to continue my work and discover new ways to make my dance career tailored fit to my needs. Sometimes all we need is a boost, and that extra time can help us to see and create what it is that we are truly imagining.