MSP 157: Rosalynde LeBlanc

Movers & Shapers: A Dance Podcast

Building a Dancer with Rosalynde LeBlanc

Rosalynde LeBlanc built her career dancing for some of the biggest names in dance. Today, she is Professor and Chair of Dance at Loyola Marymount University. Social justice awareness has always underpinned her work as a choreographer, which is why she creates pieces that are related to the world and not the mirror. During today’s conversation, she shares her perspective on what it truly means to build a dancer beyond just the physical. Tune in to hear the highlights of her incredible journey as the daughter of an accomplished dancer with Paul Taylor, applying to college early and completing her high school diploma alongside her studies, and her time dancing with Bill T. Jones that skyrocketed her career. She shares the story of being invited to dance with Baryshnikov, before burning out just three years later. Rosalynde offers her insights on doing the necessary inner work to succeed as a dancer before telling listeners all about her transition into the world of education. Tune in today to hear all this and more!

Key Points From This Episode:

· Rosalynde LeBlanc’s first experiences with dance and when she really fell in love with it.

· Her mom’s hands-off approach to managing her relationship with dance.

· Why she declined an invitation to dance with Paul Taylor.

· Her memory of Alvin Ailey’s death and the first World AIDS Day in 1989.

· Her experience at Purchase College and the social change that occurred while she was there.

· The duet she performed with Bill T. Jones which launched her career.

· Her experience of being in the work and touring with Still/Here.

· Being invited to dance with Baryshnikov.

· Her transition into education and sanctuary of the studio.

· The piece she is working on at the moment; Tomboy.

· The less talked about shadow of success.

“The other 50% of being a dancer is your psychological state of being and that shapes your body as much as all the other technique classes. So you have to deal with that.” — Rosalynde LeBlanc

Rosalynde LeBlanc is a Bessie-nominated dancer and the co-director of Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters. A former dancer with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company (1993 - 1999) and with Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project (1999 – 2002), LeBlanc is now a professor and Chair of Dance at Loyola Marymount University.

Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters is streaming now as part of season 15 AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange. Audiences can stream it for free at worldchannel.org and on the YouTube Channels of WORLD (@worldchannel) and Black Public Media (@blackpublicmedia).

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More info links from this episode: Movers & Shapers