Laurence Blake (Educator/Choreographer), a native of Southwest Virginia, attended the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC. During his senior year, he toured nationally with the Agnes DeMille Heritage Dance Theater and upon graduation was asked to join the North Carolina Dance Theater. After two seasons with NCDT, Laurence joined The Joffrey II Dancers and joined The Joffrey Ballet in the fall of 1977. He has danced ballets by such notable choreographers as Glen Tetley, John Cranko, Twyla Tharp, Sir Fredrick Ashton, Agnes DeMille, Gerald Arpino and Robert Joffrey.

He has taught both nationally and internationally, most notably at the BalletKadiem in Stockholm, Sweden; Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA; University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ; Governors Magnet School of the Arts, Norfolk, VA; Orange County High School of the Arts, Los Alamitos, CA; Regional Dance America/ Pacific Festival, Bremerton, WA; the Conservatory of Performing Arts, Pasadena, CA; Nevada Ballet Theater; and Island Moving Company, Newport, Rhode Island.

Laurence served as Assistant, Associate and Interim Dean of the Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance at the California Institute of the Arts as well as served on faculty from 1982 until his retirement in 2017. Laurence taught ballet and contemporary dance, composition and choreography at CalArts.

As Resident Choreographer for the Los Angeles Chamber Ballet, he has received nominations for the Lester Horton Award for Outstanding Choreography for his ballets “TUNNEL”, “BLACK ANGELS” and “THE NUTCRACKER”. Laurence has served as Associate Artistic Director of the Pasadena Dance Theater where he has choreographed several ballets for the company. His ballet “HOLBERG SUITE” was awarded the National Choreography Plan Award ‘97. The Regional Dance America/Pacific region presented his ballet “ORIGINS” at the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, MS in June 2006. Laurence has been commissioned to choreograph work on the Island Moving Company, Los Angeles Chamber Ballet, Hawaii Ballet Theater, Inland Pacific Ballet, Cal State University Long Beach, Loyola Marymount University and the Houston School of Performing and Visual Arts.

Blake’s choreography credits include:

Concert:

• Grains; Houston School of Performing and Visual Arts, 2019
• I/am, 2gether/them; Winter Dance Concert, Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance, 2017
• Strophen; Winter Dance Concert, Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance, 2014
• Le Sacre; Winter Dance Concert, Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance, 2012
• Data: Matrix; Spring Dance Concert, Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance, 2010
• Etudes; Pasadena Dance Theater, 2000
• C.O.C.K.T.A.I.L.S; Pasadena Dance Theater, 1999
• L’Estro Le Mone; Pasadena Dance Theater, 1998
  Tribute to Evelyn Le Mone, Founder, Pasadena Dance Theater on it’s 40th Anniversary
• Trisagion; Pasadena Dance Theater, 1997
• 1800 PSI; CalArts Dance Ensemble, 1995
• The Nutcracker; Los Angeles Chamber Ballet, 1994
• Tango Del Barrio; Hawaii Ballet Theater, 1993
• The Troupe; Los Angeles Chamber Ballet, 1993
• Cinderella; Hawaii Ballet Theater, 1992
• Holberg Suite; Inland Pacific Ballet, 1992
  Restaged for Pasadena Dance Theater, 1997
  RDA National Choreography Plan Award, 1997
• Tunnel; Los Angeles Chamber Ballet, 1991
• Black Angels; Los Angeles Chamber Ballet, 1991
• Goodbye; Los Angeles Chamber Ballet, 1990
• The Nutcracker; Hawaii Ballet Theater, 1990
  Restaged for Inland Pacific Ballet, 1992
• A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Hawaii Ballet Theater, 1990
  Restaged on Inland Pacific Ballet, 2000
• Strings in G; Hawaii Ballet Theater, 1989
• Pinocchio; Hawaii Ballet Theater, 1989
• Alice in Wonderland; Hawaii Ballet Theater, 1988
• Onyx; Hawaii Ballet Theater, 1988

Television and Film:

• Amazing Stories; Amblin Entertainment, Steven Spielberg, President
  ABC Presentation
• Room for Romance
  CBS Presentation
• To Live and Die in L.A, Assistant Choreographer
  William Friedkin, Director

Awards and Juries:

• Evelyn Sharp/CalArts Choreographic Residency; Valencia, CA
  Choreographer, May 2014 & May 2016
• Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division; Individual Artist Grant, 2002
  Collaboration with composer Cary Belling, Pasadena Dance Theater presenter
• Lester Horton Dance Award for Restaging, Reconstructed, or Revival of a Previous Work
  A Midsummer Night’s Dream Pas de Deux, nomination 1998
• Lester Horton Dance Award for Outstanding Choreography
  The Nutcracker, Los Angeles Chamber Ballet, 1995
  Tunnel; Los Angeles Chamber Ballet, 1992
  Goodbye; Los Angeles Chamber Ballet, 1990
• The Choreography Festival, jurist
  The McCallum Theater
  Rancho Mirage, CA. 2016
• Seoul International Dance Competition, ballet jurist
  Seoul, Korea 2017