Human Lauren In India

Lauren Cox is traveling to Hyderabad, India from January 28th to March 6th, 2014. In this month she plans to:

• Teach at a local orphanage.
• Teach a two week workshop for beginners on western dances including strength & flexibility, contemporary, ballet, street jazz and freestyle.
• Learn some of the cultural dances of India including Bharata Natyam (the "fire" dance) & Kathak (an Indian classical dance).
• Choreograph and set a 30 minute showcase, including herself and the Steps Studio director, Prithviraj, for the local community at Ravindhra Bharathi auditorium in Hyderabad.

Human Lauren's Campaign / Fundraiser

The plane ticket has been donated by Steps Dance Studio. The workshop and show is still being conceptualized and the total amount needed to make this happen is $2,000 USD. Your donations will be used to:

• Provide admission for five dancers who will attend her workshop.
• Cover costs of costumes, props and music for the showcase.
• Support the local orphanage.
• Stipend for Lauren's living costs.

Dance is a pure expression of the soul, no matter what the background. This is my gift and I would like to share it with as many people as possible. I hope that in opening my gift I can inspire those that surround me to open theirs. Art and happiness is real when shared.

I recently traveled to Hong Kong to perform at the Hong Kong Coliseum with the beautiful Joey Yung and to teach a few classes at Ones To Watch Dance Studios. There is a demand for versatility in the industry and the dance community worldwide. The more diverse you are in your art the more unique, inspiring and valuable you become. This is my attempt to not only share this philosophy with others but to keep growing myself. I cannot wait to share the result of this trip with you!

-Lauren Cox

You can make your donations here: Indiegogo.com/projects/humanlauren-in-india

Respect My Step

Respect My Step is a new social media network that expands the dance community to a global scale. It is a simple yet effective concept. Each dancer is asked to submit one minute of movement that expresses their unique voice, say their name and end with "Respect My Step". All they ask is that you be creative with a camera in a imaginative location and move. It helps to watch the already existing videos, give them respect and then build upon the collection of work.

Enforced Arch founder, James Koroni recently submitted a video to Respect My Step which is currently featured on the front page. Check it out and if you like what you see simply click Respect My Step and show some support. Here's the LINK!

Who started this project? About Respect My Step's creative directors:

The idea began to brew when an unlikely duo of choreographer, Jermaine Browne, and technologist, Edgardo Burgos, began to discuss the future of dance as well as advancements in technology.

“I wanted to give dance a bigger voice.” said Jermaine. “Get it to a larger audience and put a name to the nameless faces who share a passion for dance. A place to bring everyone together.”

“Technology affects every sector in life and culture,” continued Edgardo, “so I started thinking about how the dance community was affected. How can technology embrace the dance community?”

Together, they learned about each others fields, discovered and explored possibilities to make their vision come true, and created the perfect synergy of technology and dance. With a name like Respect My Step - everyone can relate. Jermaine explains: “Peoples passions are a part of them and they shouldn’t be judged for what they enjoy to do. You are who you are and you should be respected for that.”

For more information visit Respect My Step!

Paris Journal 2011 Part 9

         I'm thrilled to have two inspirational dancers, Carly Fox Horton & Tracey Katof join me in Paris tomorrow at noon (12h00). I've heard numerous people say that they are thrilled to see our performance at La Bellevilloise for Paris Vegan Day(PVD) and even more to see a marriage between art and activism in our performance piece 'Please, Don't Touch!' PVD wrote an article on the PVD website. You can read it, translated from french, here!

Paris Journal 2011 Part 1 Paris Journal 2011 Part 2 Paris Journal 2011 Part 3 Paris Journal 2011 Part 4 Paris Journal 2011 Part 5 Paris Journal 2011 Part 6 Paris Journal 2011 Part 7 Paris Journal 2011 Part 8 Paris Journal 2011 Part 9 Paris Journal 2011 Part 10 Paris Journal 2011 Part 11 Paris Journal 2011 Part 12 Paris Journal 2011 Part 13

Paris Journal 2011 Part 5

At the Grand Palais I stood in a line along with a thousand excited Parisians to enter and experience an evening of flash mobs, cultural dancing, free gifts and all at no entry fee! How is this possible? Never have I seen anything like it! In line I could have lifted my feet and floated along with the crowd into this event. I'm not kidding! Once inside I was given an umbrella and a T-shirt with a babies body on it! There really is no other way to describe the space other than a Grand Palace with a central dome and two vast wings that were completely open space, free from obstruction. The architecture was breathtaking with two staircases at the opposite end from the entrance. As you look up you're reduced to the ant you are. In that moment I lost and gained an equivalent amount of inspiration and desolation. Then my eyes reconnected with the presentations!

First of all there was 300 people at the main stage holding open umbrellas with the Baby T-shirt on, all participating in a follow my lead type of dance instruction.

Now when I said cultural dance I was referring to classes. Only the classes weren't taught to you live. There were 12 foot LCD screens lifted 5 feet from the ground with a repeating video with a master of each dance form helping you through the basics of each style. You could find anything from Ballet, Contemporary, Capoeira, Belly Dance, LA style(haha),  African, Hip Hop, Buchaechum, Bollywood, etc.

Then on either corner of the space were stages where performances from all these style were performed by dance artists from France. An invigorating experience!

Paris Journal 2011 Part 1 Paris Journal 2011 Part 2 Paris Journal 2011 Part 3 Paris Journal 2011 Part 4 Paris Journal 2011 Part 5 Paris Journal 2011 Part 6 Paris Journal 2011 Part 7 Paris Journal 2011 Part 8 Paris Journal 2011 Part 9 Paris Journal 2011 Part 10 Paris Journal 2011 Part 11 Paris Journal 2011 Part 12 Paris Journal 2011 Part 13

MASTER CLASS Fundraiser

          With choreographers James Koroni & Tracey Katof of Enforced Arch website! All proceeds go towards the 'Please, Don't Touch' fundraiser.

$20 - 2 hr class* Tuesday, September 13th at 7:00 PM Location: Pearl Studios Nyc Studio K 500 8th Ave., New York, NY 10018

7:00 PM - 7:45 PM Contemporary warm-up including pilates strengthening

7:45 PM - 9:00 PM Athletic & quirky Contemporary segment from 'Please, Don't Touch'

*The Enforced Arch community is searching for compassionate 'Movers' for upcoming opportunities. This is a great way for us to get to know you as a dancer and artist!

James Koroni's Birthday & Fundraiser

Our fundraising event on Tuesday evening went brilliantly. The turn out was outstanding! A crowd made up of friends, family, artists, activists, fashion industry professionals, dancers, choreographers, Clara Lofaro fans and of course the lure of Bettina May topped it all off! I could not have had a more splendid time. A special thanks you to all those involved including: Bettina May , dough-nut stop till you get enough!

Clara Lofaro accompanied by Andrea Torres on Taps!

Lauren Cox & myself performing 'Please, Don't Touch' with Marlena Pavich's Anti-Fur pants!

Verite Catering

The West Cafe in Williamsburg

Thank you to Cocoa V, Blossom Du Jour, Bettina May's PinUp Class, Foodswings, Tracey Katof, Bud Burdick, Carly Fox Horton, Joshua Katcher, Vaute Couture and of course thank you for being in attendance!

As for the fundraiser element, we raised just enough to send one dancer to Paris which means there is still more outreach to be done. We have created an IndieGoGo web page. If you know anyone that might be interested in our cause please send the following link their way:

http://www.indiegogo.com/Please-Dont-Touch

Here is the launch of our video:

‘Please, Don’t Touch’ focuses energy on a topic that sits at the intersection of social justice, ecology and design. Our ultimate goal is to to become effective conduits for empathy and creative tools for change. Through the use of live performance, transmedia and personal interaction, this project will impact the heavily guarded perceptions of fur iconography by shedding light on what isn’t revealed behind the glitz and glamor.

Too Young

Tremendous injustice is occurring all over the world. The most innocent and fragile of living creatures have no voice. Children are making textiles, toys (which they will never play with) and matches, among many other items. We call this Child labor. Child Trafficking is another malicious form of modern slavery. Each day, more children are trafficked into prostitution, forced labor, child marriage and other slavery-like conditions. Each day sees the growth of skills and experience of traffickers and those who purchase trafficked persons. Isn't slavery illegal? I guess not.

In our society we seek the most "delicious" food and at what cost? Do we know at what level of cruelty the farmers reach for particular forms of meat or dairy? Male chicks are useless to egg farms so they are simply plucked up and loaded into a grinder or left in a dumpster to die.

Veal production is also a bi-product of the dairy industry. It's beyond me how this kind of medieval torture is still around? Pulled from their mother immediately after birth, fed an anemic diet in a wooden crate to small to lie down in and then killed after 18 or 20 weeks.

You may ask what can I do about this? Being informed should be your first bit of effort. There are so many resources online for you to peruse. Then avoid companies that use child labor, create artistic works that educate your audiences, avoid cruel farming practices and you'll make a world of difference. All we have is each other to rely upon. It isn't difficult to be compassionate. It's simply difficult to know these ethical issues exist and then not do anything about it!

It Gets Better

I met talented 'Mover,' Tracey Katof shortly after she had the opportunity to dance and choreograph for comedian, Rebecca Drysdale, on a music video called "It Gets Better." In a short interview with her, this is what she had to say:

Q. Why do you dance? A. Language barriers exist between communities worldwide. I choose dance as my form of communication and self expression because I feel speaking through movement is the natural global language. Even the most simple movements, such as a smile or a frown, can be understood regardless of where someone comes from or what language they speak.   I dance to promote efforts of human welfare and social reform.  If I can spark an emotion or idea in an audience member that leads to a positive change, then I have accomplished my goal.

Q. How does this influence your dancing? A. My dancing is driven by my devotion to a cause and a desire to express truth.  In addition, I hope that my body and movement can serve as a vessel for social change and awareness.  In a sense, I dance to be larger than myself.

Q. Tell me about your experiences with "It Gets Better." A. Working with Comedian Rebecca Drysdale was a fulfilling experience. She put forth an immeasurable amount of time and effort into creating her vision. I thought it was an innovative idea to produce a music video and use humor to get the message across and to reach a large audience.  Through the Internet and social media, the video has already been viewed 100,000 times in just 2 weeks!

Q. How has dancing for this social issue enriched your life as an artist? A. From choreographing for humanitarian causes, I have learned that no matter how foreign the topic is to me, I can always relate.  That is what I want for the audience as well.  I am not a part of the LGBT community, yet I have related to the pain caused by feeling different and being teased. The "It Gets Better" campaign is about accepting each other for who we are.  I support this project because I want to spread the message that even in the most disheartening situations, there is always hope.

Tracey was the first to tell me about "It Gets Better." After I watched it for the first time I thought, I wish this was around when I was 14 so I didn't have to watch "Undressed" on MTV to feel normal! I recall being afraid to simply think thoughts of homosexuality, for fear that I would be, "condemned to hell." Add any level of physical, mental or emotional abuse to that kind of existence and it would be very difficult to know what I know now, which is, IT'S SOOO MUCH BETTER! This campaign has become a worldwide movement and is helping troubled teens look to a brighter side. For this I thank Tracey for lending her talents in Rebecca Drysdale's video.

Tracey is committed to many social issues. I'd love to share them all with you now but I look forward to seeing how she plans to illustrate them herself! Keep up with Tracey Katof's moves here:

http://TraceyKatof.com

http://www.doyoubuzz.com/Tracey-Katof