Lauren Squires
Columbus Dance Alliance presents Lauren Squires as our June 2021 Community Spotlight Artist. Lauren has been living and dancing in Columbus since 2012, focusing primarily on tap dance and the rich collaborations that this art form poses. When she arrived here, she quickly worked to build a more robust professional community of tap dancers, founding Movement Afoot in 2014. She and the dancers that work with her have produced three full length tap dance concerts: Ph(r)ase 1 (2016), Count Us In (2017), and Rhythm Studies (2018). Movement Afoot has also performed at numerous community events and has offered summer workshop series, hosted classes with visiting artists, and conducted outreach performances and workshops with Columbus City Schools and the Schoenbaum Family Center. Beyond her artistic work, Lauren is also a sociolinguist. Her scholarly research in the filed of sociolinguistics focuses on how speakers make sense of variable patterns in language across social categories and contexts. She teaches courses in English linguistics and language and media at The Ohio State University.
We asked her to shed more light on her experience in Columbus as a tap dance artist, including the collaborative opportunities that have opened, and also the work that still needs to be done to support growing a local tap dance community. Check out what she has to say below:
Q: How would you describe your art?
A: I’m a tap dancer, which means my art is both dance and music. My primary intention is always rhythmic and acoustic—dancing to create music, dancing to integrate with music, and exploration of sound as created by the body.
Image Description: Color photograph of Lauren Squires seated and tap dancing
Photo Credit: Jerri Shafer
Q: What has your experience been making art in the Columbus dance community?
A: When I moved to Columbus (in 2012), I was disappointed that I didn’t see any artists or groups focusing on tap. Columbus is so much bigger than the places I’d lived before, and I was sure there would already be a “tap scene” that I could just show up and plug into! But there really wasn’t, so I worked to find other dancers, space, and opportunities to present. After a couple of years I was able to establish Movement Afoot as an organization dedicated to tap dance performance and education. The community has been so welcoming of a tap dance company, and other groups have been gracious to work with us and invite us to work with them. Audiences always react with excitement, so that’s been very, very gratifying. At the same time, there are frustrations, because unfortunately it seems like a lot of people still don’t recognize tap as a dance form that’s really mature and artistic. Like I’ll tell people I tap dance and I can tell they don’t really think it’s “serious.” But tap is so many different people, styles, intentions, and possibilities, and it has such a rich and important social history in this country. That’s why I’m so committed to keeping performance opportunities alive for tap at the local level: people need to see it to appreciate it.
Q: The tap dance landscape is often perceived as small. Can you speak about the struggle and limitation of tap dance in Columbus? What do you see as the needs for building a stronger tap dance community?
A: Tap is smaller than many other performing arts. There are some positives to that, because there is a familial aspect to the tap dance community. But the downside is it feels like you are constantly working for the art to be perceived as legitimate before you even get to the point of showing the work. I think the challenge is really just fostering a better understanding among the public that tap is alive and moving, and that it is an art form of depth and sophistication. One of my catchphrases lately is “Tap is endless,” because the longer I do this, the more I keep discovering tap has to offer, and I want audiences of all kinds to be able to take that journey as well. I’ve always thought that having a space dedicated to tap and other percussive dance would be fruitful—really, to help tap dancers find each other, and to give tap dancers a discipline-specific place to work and practice and explore, and collaborate with musicians and other dancers. That’s my hope with Tap Shop, which has been inspired also by some other folks’ studios (mainly Pam Hetherington in Philly and Heather Cornell in upstate New York).
Image Description: Color photo of Lauren Squires performing
Photo Credit: Amy Planchett
Q: What are your hopes/dreams/desires for dance in Columbus, particularly tap dance?
A: I think dance in Columbus is so vibrant, and there are so many amazing artists here; I would like to see more public recognition and support. For instance, I want more dance performances to get reviews in the paper (not just previews), or spots on WOSU’s weekend arts discussion. I want bigger audiences for all of our shows. For tap specifically, in addition to all of those things, I imagine a future where percussive dance is always represented anywhere that is bringing multiple dance forms together—whether that’s the OhioDance Festival, the Arts Festival dance stage, or whatever. I also want artists in other modalities to think, when they are imagining collaborations with dancers, of tap dance as an exciting possibility.
Q: What other Columbus based artists are you inspired by right now?
A: There are lots, but I’ll give just a few. First, my friend and collaborator Janet Schroeder has been alongside me for many years now in my endeavors in tap in Columbus, and she continues to inspire me—to dance, to create, and also to not lose sight of the joy in tap. In addition to being a brilliant dancer she’s also a brilliant dance scholar, who always enriches my understanding of tap/dance history and practice. Second, jazz great Bobby Floyd. During the pandemic, I barely danced at all. I have two young kids, so the year was basically absorbed with managing working while caring for the kids. I started listening to the Blue Velvet Room’s Sunday live streams with the Bobby Floyd Trio, and other local musicians would sit in too. I didn’t grow up listening to or dancing with jazz music, but of course that’s where the history of tap is rooted, and so as an adult I’ve been committed to centering jazz and learning more. He’s just so so good, and listening to him and his musicians play really kept me in the mode of wanting to dance regularly again, as soon as I could make it happen. That was very important inspiration during the pandemic. Also, some of the dancers from Swing Columbus—Tyedric Hill, Shannon Varner, and Viktor Lillard—have been inspiring me. There are a lot of historical and movement-based connections between tap and Lindy hop, and I love watching these dancers and seeing how they swing. Finally, my student and friend Kim Denizard, who just turned 65 and is still performing around Columbus—she does Bomba, tap dance, and more—and she still has her high kicks! Kim has taught me a lot about Columbus history and she has an unparalleled love of dance and performance that is truly inspiring.
Image Description (right to left): Color photograph of Lauren Squires and Mansee Singhi performing tap and khatak together; color photograph of Movement Afoot dancing accompanied by a jazz trio for Rhythm Studies (2018); color photograph of Movement Afoot dancing in Count Us In (2017); color photograph of Lauren Squires sitting on a cajon box drum holding drum sticks
Photo Credit (right to left): Feikert Creative, Amy Planchet, Jess Cavender (2)
CDA extends our thanks to Lauren for being our June 2021 Community Spotlight artist. If you missed our Instagram Live video of her weekly tap class offering—“Play”—never fear! You can find a schedule of upcoming classes by following Tap Shop on Facebook!! Don’t miss her Instagram takeover (featured on CDA’s Instagram page) happening tomorrow—June 26, 2021—leading up to her live performance with with Jen Miller and her band as part of the Franklinton Pride festivities!! More info HERE!!
If you are interested in learning more about or supporting Lauren’s ongoing work you can check out her website and subscribe to Movement Afoot’s newsletter at www.movementafoottap.com, follow on social media (Facebook: @movementafoot + @tapshopcbus (link above); Instagram: @movementafoot + @tapshopcbus; Twitter: @movementafoot), or donate via Venmo: @LMSquires; Cashapp: $lmsquires; PayPal: movementafoot@gmail.com (all donations will support Movement Afoot!).