We asked Lauren...

How has your experience as a company member evolved since joining?

In terms of experience as a company member and how I go about conducting myself in rehearsal and performances, I don't actually feel as if anything has changed for me. I feel equally committed, invested, and inspired by the people and art surrounding me. 

Since joining in January 2012, many things in the company have changed: rehearsal space, company members, company rep, expansion to different styles, and the addition of a junior company. In that sense, I feel an evolution adjusting to bigger spaces and readjusting to smaller performance spaces, opening up to more dance genres to help evolve my versatility as a dancer and being able to work with the younger junior company members and just being a role model to them as a member of a professional company. 

I feel the same way about CoEXIST as I always have but the changes that have along with the company have shaped and added more into life as a dancer and person.