Choreography is both art and facilitation of art. My process is not different from one identity or activity to the next: I continually hone my taste and style, source inspiration broadly, learn more, figure things out, and aim to be as clear as humanly possible.
Photograph by Linnea BullionI am a designer, independent choreographer, and small business owner based in Southern California. I currently work as a lead designer and brand consultant for multiple clients in the tech startup, biotech, and direct-to-consumer sectors. I also co-own and operate Compound YV, an art and event space in the Joshua Tree area.
Originally from a suburb of Detroit, I was formally trained as a dancer and choreographer, graduating summa cum laude in 2009 from New York City’s Ailey/Fordham B.F.A. program. Under the warmth and mentorship of Kazuko Hirabayashi and Milton Myers, I began showing work at venues including Jacob’s Pillow, Symphony Space, Dance New Amsterdam, the Joan Weill Center for Dance and Galapagos Art Space. In promoting this work, I became curious about graphic and web design, exploring it in parallel and — where possible — in tandem with performance work.
In 2012, I crossed the country to Orange County, CA, where I organically co-founded and later directed The Assembly, a platform for dancers and collaborating artists to create semi-annual dance performance pop-ups. I became the events editor and then an editor-at-large at Orange Coast Magazine. I also contributed to, and subsequently became a partner of, the dance journalism site DIYdancer. From 2016-2019, I initiated and designed the first three issues of their print magazine.
Since 2017, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to consult with MacArthur Genius Award-winning artist, Elizabeth Turk, on multiple projects. I helped to design and choreograph for Shoreline Project, an installation for 1,000 bodies and umbrellas — and several thousand onlookers — on Laguna’s Main Beach, commissioned by Laguna Art Museum. In 2020, I also suggested movements and movement patterns for the 600 residents of Mt. San Antonio Gardens, a retirement community in Pomona, CA, smack in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
Recently, I’ve broadened my skillset with a certification in design thinking from IDEOU and was fortunate to audit an MBA class in Entrepreneurship at U.C. Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.
Originally from a suburb of Detroit, I was formally trained as a dancer and choreographer, graduating summa cum laude in 2009 from New York City’s Ailey/Fordham B.F.A. program. Under the warmth and mentorship of Kazuko Hirabayashi and Milton Myers, I began showing work at venues including Jacob’s Pillow, Symphony Space, Dance New Amsterdam, the Joan Weill Center for Dance and Galapagos Art Space. In promoting this work, I became curious about graphic and web design, exploring it in parallel and — where possible — in tandem with performance work.
In 2012, I crossed the country to Orange County, CA, where I organically co-founded and later directed The Assembly, a platform for dancers and collaborating artists to create semi-annual dance performance pop-ups. I became the events editor and then an editor-at-large at Orange Coast Magazine. I also contributed to, and subsequently became a partner of, the dance journalism site DIYdancer. From 2016-2019, I initiated and designed the first three issues of their print magazine.
Since 2017, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to consult with MacArthur Genius Award-winning artist, Elizabeth Turk, on multiple projects. I helped to design and choreograph for Shoreline Project, an installation for 1,000 bodies and umbrellas — and several thousand onlookers — on Laguna’s Main Beach, commissioned by Laguna Art Museum. In 2020, I also suggested movements and movement patterns for the 600 residents of Mt. San Antonio Gardens, a retirement community in Pomona, CA, smack in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
Recently, I’ve broadened my skillset with a certification in design thinking from IDEOU and was fortunate to audit an MBA class in Entrepreneurship at U.C. Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.
Press
Articles
Lara Wilson’s ‘The Interim’ commands concentration and reflection
LA DANCE CHRONICLE
An Address to Absence: Audra Wolowiec Interviewed by Meg Whiteford
BOMB MAGAZINE
Elders and an artist bring a social sculpture to life
NEW YORK TIMES
The Boundless ‘How to Draw an Outline’ premieres at The Muck
OC WEEKLY
REDCAT NOW Week 1 projects thoughtful voices
LA DANCE CHRONICLE
Endangered birds at the ‘Tipping Point’: Artist Elizabeth Turk’s latest on Catalina Island
LA TIMES
1,000 umbrellas light up Laguna’s main beach for artists’s ‘Shoreline Project’
LA TIMES
‘Recess’ by The Assembly was a blast with its serious sort of fun
OC WEEKLY
Meet trailblazer Lara Wilson
VOYAGE LA
LA DANCE CHRONICLE
An Address to Absence: Audra Wolowiec Interviewed by Meg Whiteford
BOMB MAGAZINE
Elders and an artist bring a social sculpture to life
NEW YORK TIMES
The Boundless ‘How to Draw an Outline’ premieres at The Muck
OC WEEKLY
REDCAT NOW Week 1 projects thoughtful voices
LA DANCE CHRONICLE
Endangered birds at the ‘Tipping Point’: Artist Elizabeth Turk’s latest on Catalina Island
LA TIMES
1,000 umbrellas light up Laguna’s main beach for artists’s ‘Shoreline Project’
LA TIMES
‘Recess’ by The Assembly was a blast with its serious sort of fun
OC WEEKLY
Meet trailblazer Lara Wilson
VOYAGE LA
Podcast episodes
Lara Wilson on ‘How to Draw an Outline’
UNSEQUENCED
Designing your life with Lara Wilson Townsend
DANCE ON AIR
UNSEQUENCED
Designing your life with Lara Wilson Townsend
DANCE ON AIR
Film festivals
Dare 2 Dance in Public Film Festival
Newport Beach Film Festival
San Francisco Dance Film Festival
Movies by Movers
The Current Sessions
Newport Beach Film Festival
San Francisco Dance Film Festival
Movies by Movers
The Current Sessions
Residencies
Yaledancers at Yale University
New Haven, CT
Armitage GONE! Studio at Mana Contemporary Jersey City, NJ
Muckenthaler Cultural Center
Fullerton, CA
New Haven, CT
Armitage GONE! Studio at Mana Contemporary Jersey City, NJ
Muckenthaler Cultural Center
Fullerton, CA