Laura creates dance work rooted in story and identity to unpack how our physical bodies hold the memory of our emotional, relational, and experiential lives. Her MFA thesis, when the honey turns to dust, explored the power of myth and memory in the construction of identity, interrogating what happens when our memories morph and fade and shifting neural pathways reshape the inner landscapes of our physicality. Her other research interests include death and loss, community, enmeshment, and resilience, the role of religion in ballet death plots being used as sociopolitical tools, and somatic pedagogy as a liberatory tool within traditionally authoritarian, hierarchical ballet training practices.After receiving her BA in Psychology from Hope College in 2009, Laura Malpass spent 7 years in the San Francisco Bay Area dancing professionally and teaching. Recently, she graduated with her MFA in Dance, a secondary emphasis in Somatics: The Alexander Technique, and a graduate certificate in Women & Gender Studies from the University of Colorado Boulder. There, she was a graduate part time instructor, teaching beginning contemporary and all levels of ballet for non-majors, as well as leading recitations for Dance History and Philosophy and lecturing for Dance in Popular Culture and Media. She also served two years as Dance Lead for the Graduate Teacher Program and was honored to be nominated for a Graduate Student Teaching Excellence Award by the department. Teaching is Laura's passion. She is an ABT® Certified Teacher in Primary through Level 7 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. Laura believes dance can transcend all boundaries we perceive or feebly construct, and outreach is a constant thread in her work. She has enjoyed helping develop and teach movement classes for dancers on the autism spectrum, elders, young adults with developmental disabilities, and children in under-resourced elementary schools.