“Laura’s consistent creative involvement in the process and invention of new work is unparalleled.” - Erica Wilson

ARTIST STATEMENT

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ARTIST STATEMENT |||

LROD’s daily practice crosses the seen and unseen borders we each carry.

LROD creates co-creative environments charged with warmth and electric ease.

The vision re-imagines present futures where artists are embraced for their creative potential and multi-hyphenate identities.

The mission unfolds strategic choreographic designs serving as a framework to navigate a wide array of performance, education, and technology sectors.

These practices prioritize inter-generational/galatic access, justice, and agility as grounding principles.

At the core, LROD says, “Love is a borderland.”

LROD customizes from a long line of family seamstresses, rebels, and re-imaginaries reflecting a border-life woven into every part.

Border Crosser
= Deep indigo and muted ochre

Sacred Heart
= Warm crimson and soft ivory

COSMOS of Flame
= Fiery amber and celestial navy

VEILED Curandere
= Misty lavender and sage green

SHAPESHIFTING PUNKRock
= Electric teal and charcoal black

⊥ART BIO⊥

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⊥ART BIO⊥ ||||

Laura “LROD” █████████, has been sighted and unseen as LROD LROD, LROD, Lrod ********, pronounced “ELROD”, and La Fractura. EL PASO, TX under the green sun and shadows of steel on sand, Laura came to be. LROD short for lighting rod. Born from the crossroads of Rarámuri, Spain, Germany & Africa merged to form Laura’s embedded power-lines.

Born from the mother night, LROD wonders as a daydreamer, cathedral of techne-light, and weaver of supportive presence. Hardcore creative with direct transmissions. Massachusetts now calls us home. Anarchist to any “mold” or “form.” A sacred heart in original communal artistic practices, signaling embodiment and future realms. A shapeshifter through many titles for creative process, centering human needs drawn from a long-line of border seamstresses, Chicane, and curanderas.

One finds LROD in the circle, in the heart of a home, and starting green bonfires with la alma.

Speaking from the heart of co-creativity and collaboration: a former core artist with Norah Zuniga Shaw (NZShaw), Livable Futures, a former core member of La Pocha Nostra with Guillermo Gómez Peña & Balitronica and a co-founder of Taco Reparations Brigade with Paloma Martinez Cruz, Rubén Castille Herrera (RIP), and Bryan Ortiz.

MEDIUMS: co-creative, technology, movement & flow, film production & editing, graphic design, visual art & branding, performance art, media arts, masks/costumes, dramaturgy, syncretism, ghostwriting, eso-terics, magical sur-realism, and lighting design

PEOPLE: La Pocha Nostra & Guillermo Gomez Pena, Livable Futures, Tonya Lockyer, Alessandro Sousa Pereira & BDT, Sara Shelton Mann, Roya Carreras, Passion Fruit Dance Company & Tatiana Desardouin, Jay Stull & Keenan Taylor Oliphant, Dede Ayite, Phillip Howze, Amy O'Neal, Oded Huberman, Tara Burns, Dorian Ham, Byron Au Yong, Michael Morris, Marc Ainger, Nadia Lauro, Seth Moses Meyer, JazzyPhoto, Devin Marie Munoz, Kyle Abraham, Sidra Bell, Gerard & Kelly, Aysha Upchurch, Laura Coe, Jeffery L. Page, House of Dov, Levi Ryan, Joy Ashford, Laura Coe, Mia Hazra, Alma Kent, Doreen Li, Shojeh Liu, Bryce Reynolds, Micaela Rosen, Yuqi Sun, CLS, Paloma Martinez Cruz, Ruben Castilla Herrera (RIP), Bryn Ortiz, and Nicholas Pasquarello, Awilda Rodriguez-Lora, Sam Tirrell, Taylor Hutchinson, Sydney Samson, Becca Blackwell, Hannah Cavallaro, Scotty Flores, Sierra Hendrix, Molly Levy, Kate O’Day, Levi Ryan, Kince de Vera, APPVLLO, Macha Colón, Hannah McClean, Allison P. Burke, Cove (Maeve Haselton), Phenix Laughlin, Julia Sloan, Jessie Cannon, Meg Fox, Sonia Baidya, Christopher Engelbrecht, Adriana Hernandez, Arlene Martin, Sarah Oakley, Chris Rapinchuk, Julia Sloane, Sonam Tshedzom Tingkhye, Nico Tower, Matthew Witschonke, Alejandra Rosa, Callie Chapman, Andy Russ, Christopher Rivas, Annie Gonzalez, Amber Ortega, Erica Wilson, Chavi Bansal, Nancy Hinojos, Liliana Price, Payton Thompson, Lulu Troyer, Nailah Randall-Bellinger, Candace Zachary, Meg Fox, Toni Dove, Jazelynn Goudy, Wideman Davis Dance, Pat Graney, Wade Madsen, Deb Wolf.

SITES: Boost Dance Festival, Converge Dance Festival, Men in Dance, Cervantino Film Festival, Dance @30FPS, International Dance Festival, Base,
the American Dance Festival’s Movies by Movers, Velocity, Joyce Theater, ArtLab, NYU/Steinhardt, Broadway Performance Hall, Farkas Hall, Harvard Dance Center, Paramount Theater, Wexner Center of the Arts, MetaLab/Berlin, MOCO, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Jacob's Pillow, and International Conference on Movement and Computing (MOCO), and on the streets with the people

SIGHTINGS: Director, Co-creative, Co-founder, Production Manager, Educator, Media Artist, Head of Dance, Artistic Director, Producer, Filmmaker, Collaborator, Advocate, Pro se, Lecturer, Faculty, Death Doula, Artist, Choreographer, Gardener, Project Manager, Co-director, Program Manager, Core Artist, Team Member, Founder, Web Designer, Radical Pedagogue, Neighbor, and Parent.

SMALL NOTES: Awards include, New England Foundation of the Arts Recipient (NEFA), LiveArts Ireland Residency, Harvard's Provostial Fund Awardee, Michael M. Bromley Fund for Innovations in Dance (2021-2024), Migration, Mobility, and Immobility Grant (MMI), NALAC Leadership Fellow, and Harvard Certificate of Distinction in Teaching Awards 2024-2020

ATLAS notes: LROD embodies a synthesis of grounded patience, careful observation, and radical tenderness, layered with a protective aura, transparency, and strength. Designing within this framework calls for a creative portfolio that reflects these qualities through interdisciplinary expression. The work would emphasize embodied pedagogy, inviting engagement that is both introspective and outwardly resilient. It would integrate movement, narrative, and technology to foster environments that support optimization and creative exploration.

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BIO-ART Laura Rodriguez, LROD is from El Paso, TX, now residing in Massachusetts, with a career spanning over 20+ years in education, intermedia, and dance/movement research. LROD teaches at MIT as a visiting lecturer from 25-24, part-time. Laura “LROD” Rodriguez held Harvard University as Interim head of dance and lecturer in Theater, Dance and Media 24-20, and affiliate faculty in Critical Media Practices. LROD lead programing in dance and movement while building bridges for expansive arts programing with partners. Listening deeply to colleagues, students, and artists, LROD re-balance curriculum with expansive histories and conversations of dance, scholarship, and styles. LROD was often seen on the ground, meeting with diverse artists, communities, and students in the daily presence of community. Before receiving a BFA (2017, Cornish College of the Arts) and MFA (2020, The OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY), Laura worked in the professional dance industry for 14 years as a performer, educator, co-director, manager, and choreographer. Awards include, New England Foundation of the Arts Recipient (NEFA), LiveArts Ireland Residency, Harvard's Provostial Fund Awardee, Michael M. Bromley Fund for Innovations in Dance (2021-2024), Migration, Mobility, and Immobility Grant (MMI), NALAC Leadership Fellow, and Harvard Certificate of Distinction in Teaching Awards 2024-2020. engages in advocacy, pedagogy, and arts administration, having presented or produced at institutions and festivals such as Joyce Theater, Artlab, NYU/Steinhardt, Broadway Performance Hall, Farkas Hall, Harvard Dance Center, Paramount Theater, Wexner Center of the Arts, MetaLab/Berlin, MOCO, and Jacob's Pillow. More BSLROD resides in Massachusetts, with a career spanning over 24 years in education, intermedia, and movement. LROD’s sought-after expertise is informed by extensive experience in the field and by presentations and productions at renowned institutions such as Joyce Theater, NYU/Steinhardt, Paramount Theater, Wexner Center of the Arts MetaLab/Berlin, MOCO, and Jacob's Pillow. LROD held leadership and teaching positions at Harvard University during (24-20). LROD’s capaciousness exists by re-imaging the boundaries placed on movement in education settings through research rooted in choreography. LROD’s portfolios include dance, film, design, performance art, intermedia, masks/costumes, dramaturgy, and lighting design, showcased in venues such as the ICA, Harvard Dance Center, Paseo Project, and Wexner Center for the Arts. Currently, LROD teaches at MIT and is a volunteer EOL doula. LROD generates a warmly electric environment full of ease, communication, and transparency. LROD has collaborated with esteemed artists and organizations worldwide, including La Pocha Nostra, Livable Futures, Tonya Lockyer, Sara Shelton Mann, Passion Fruit Dance Company, Jay Stull & Keenan Taylor Oliphant, Amy O'Neal, Kyle Abraham, Gerard & Kelly, Awilda Rodriguez-Lora, Wideman Davis Dance, Latino International Film Festival, Roya Carreras, Alessandro Sousa Pereira, Cervantino Film Festival, Dance @30FPS, International Dance Festival, Pat Graney, Wade Madsen, Deb Wolf, and the American Dance Festival’s Movies by Movers. LROD received numerous awards and accolades such as New England Foundation of the Arts Recipient (NEFA), Merce Cunningham Endowed Scholarship (3x), LiveArts Ireland Residency, Harvard's Provostial Fund Awardee, Michael M. Bromley Fund for Innovations in Dance (2021-2024), Vera J. Blaine Special Projects fund, Humane Technology Fellowship, Kreielsheimer Foundation Scholarship, Northwestern Summer Institute Award Recipient. Migration, Mobility, and Immobility Grant (MMI), NALAC Leadership Fellow, and Harvard Certificate of Distinction in Teaching Awards 2024-2020 (12x). Before receiving a BFA and MFA, LROD worked in the professional dance industry for 14 years as a performer, educator, co-director, producer, and choreographer. LROD's non-traditional academic background includes an M.F.A. in choreography, intermedia, and Latinx Studies from The Ohio State University (20-17), a B.F.A. from Cornish College of the Arts from the Professional Dancers Program (17-14) and received several anatomical/somatic studies and certifications. LROD’s company and films, established in 2014, have toured nationally and internationally.