Learning the Steps Young alumni are prepared to thrive in their professional dance careers By Christine Byrd
Lauren Gresens’ final performance
as a student was a solo in North Star, a piece by acclaimed modern dance choreographer and UCI professor Lar Lubovitch. When she graduated a few months later, in June 2020, dance companies were in limbo and not hiring new talent. She moved back in with her parents and taught pilates and dance at local studios. It’s no coincidence that when venues finally reopened, Gresens’ first performance with a professional company was dancing that same North Star solo with Utah’s Repertory Dance 18
Theatre, which opened their 56th season with three of Lubovitch’s works. “Lar is a modern dance legend,” says Gresens. “He is so entrenched in the modern contemporary dance world, and that presents so many possibilities for making connections and networking with other professionals.” Gresens moved to Salt Lake City in the fall of 2021 to accept a contract with the experimental contemporary dance company SALT 2. When Lubovitch and his rehearsal director Kate Skarpetowska learned that Gresens was in Utah where they were working with
