Raised by the rhythm: Dance professor Lauren Mudry

By Emmett Roman
Staff Reporter

Every professor has their own personal background. When sitting in their classes, students might wonder, “How did my professor get to be where they are now?” Lauren Mudry, a professor for dance and theater at LCC, is one of those professors with an interesting background.

Mudry grew up as a Lansing native after her parents moved from Flint, Michigan. “They were Flintstones, so, I’m a Lugnut,” Mudry laughed. “Or whatever you call it.” She began dance at the age of 3, dancing at the Delta Enrichment Center. There, Mudry was able to experiment creatively and witness dance for the very first time. “From 3 to now, the only time I haven’t been dancing is when I’m injured!” she explained.

After dancing at the center for a while, her dance teacher noticed Mudry’s talents and suggested her parents take her to a studio. And so, Mudry’s parents would begin the start of her promising career. Unfortunately, she was only at that local studio for a short time before it got taken over by new management. This landed her being at Donna Marie’s Studio of Dance in the Lansing area. There, Mudry began studying ballet as her foundation. When she got older, she took a leap of faith and signed up to take jazz and hip-hop. While trying those new genres, she also discovered Irish step dancing.

She was in the company by age 9 and met many friends. To her, the studio was a place where she felt heard and seen compared to how she felt in the outside world. “Looking back as an adult to that time period, I realize I was an art kid,” Mudry said. “When I was younger, I didn’t realize I thought about things differently than most. I saw things outside of the box and came at it from different angles.” Dance was like a therapy for Mudry, as it allowed her to feel free and valuable.

When Mudry hit the age of 18, she decided to go to LCC on an academic scholarship. She took dance classes and general education classes and majored in graphic design. While in attendance, she continued to dance and teach classes around the community. One of Mudry’s biggest achievements during her time at LCC was becoming an assistant director for a spring concert that the college used to have while she was a student. “As a student that’s huge,” Mudry beamed. “That’s a large responsibility, especially when you have a cast of over 20.”

After getting her associate degree in graphic design, Mudry continued her education and went to Eastern Michigan University. There, Mudry was able to continue to pursue her passion through Eastern’s dance program. Even though she had majored in graphic design previously, she knew in her heart what she really wanted to do. “To be completely honest, a lot of people were like, ‘Don’t major in dance,’” Mudry said. “As someone who’s a little bit stubborn, I was like, ‘Well, that’s what I want to do.’”

Mudry originally went into the program to become a dance therapist, but after a teacher recommendation and some contemplation over the summer, she switched to the teacher/performance track.

Her favorite part about Eastern was the close-knit community she bonded with. Since all of her general education was done, Mudry could focus on her passion for dance. “Eastern Michigan University was wonderful because it was such a small program,” she said. “I liked the fact that the instructors knew your name, and with the program so small, it gave us opportunities to try new things.”

Now, when Mudry attends festivals, she occasionally runs into her old dance professors. “Sometimes when I take students to festivals to perform or get adjudicated, I see some of my mentors there presenting their own work with their students,” Mudry said. “Even for the program consisting of a very wide range of areas, the community is still close-knit.”

During her senior year at Eastern, she was the assistant producer for a screen dance (a form of dance that combines cinematography and choreography for the screen) with one of their lead professors. After Mudry graduated, she was told that the screen dance was so big that it traveled to Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Mudry graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a Bachelor of Science in dance. Because of this, she had to do anatomy, kinesiology and physiology in order to learn which muscles are being used for different dance poses and moves. Mudry felt extremely tied to this path due to her fondness of dance therapy.

After graduation, she began teaching at LCC and choreographing for high schools all over Michigan. She also began to teach at the studios around the Lansing area. Currently, Mudry stays busy teaching in five different capacities: at local studios, at LCC, at the Wharton Center through its Partners in Education program, at the MSU University Club and at area high schools for their musicals.

With one studio, she has an extra LCC connection. She works closely with another LCC professor, Lisa Whiting-Dobson, who teaches digital media and audio cinema. Whiting-Dobson serves as the artistic director for an adult contemporary dance element with the Greater Lansing Ballet Company, and Mudry works as the associate artistic director. In their work with the group over the last ten years, Mudry and Whiting-Dobson have grown close as professionals, both with the dance company and as fellow LCC professors.

The ages of Mudry’s students vary. Across all of her roles, she is able to teach from Pre-K all the way to adulthood. “I think my oldest student that I currently have is in her 70s,” Mudry confirmed.

One of Mudry’s most significant jobs is as an educator for the Kennedy Center in Washington DC in partnership with the Wharton Center. According to their website, the Wharton Center, along with Ingham Intermediate School District, has been part of the Kennedy Center’s Partners in Education program since 2006. The opportunity arose after one of Mudry’s mentors decided to take a step back after COVID-19 and recommended that she join the Wharton staff and became a resident teaching dance artist with the program in 2021.

One of her duties is to teach workshops at area K-12 schools that focus on dance and movement. According to the Wharton website, “Lauren’s residences invite teachers and students to explore movement as a learning powerful tool.” Mudry loves teaching the K-12 students how her art can be translated in many different ways. “I love seeing the ‘aha’ moments,” Mudry said. “You know how when you’re talking to someone and the light bulb just pops on. That’s what I love.” To Mudry, it’s like “teaching a little Lauren”—helping students who like herself understand things in the creative aspect.

Mudry has learned a lot from her time as a resident in the program. She even had the honor of presenting at the Kennedy Center Conference in 2025. “I shared my findings with so many people who knew so much more than me,” Mudry said. “I was actually working really hard with Kennedy Center Education Directors and national teaching artists who are a part of the program, getting training from them and perhaps becoming an artist through them.” Mudry is looking forward to traveling more to share this educational model and her craft.

She admires the educational structure that she learned through the Kennedy Center partnership. “It’s phenomenal,” Mudry said. “I got to see it in full force. I actually got to go into one of the schools in DC and that entire school was using their model. The fact that there was such a crossover with grades and every teacher was onboard with the layout. It was amazing.” The model used art and movement and integrated it into teaching all school subjects. Even subjects like math and social studies could be taught in a way that was more accessible for students who understand things through art.

One of Mudry’s favorite parts about teaching is seeing her students develop empathy and community. “I saw firsthand the empathy that students created when I was working with them,” Mudry said. “If I’m doing a dance/literature lesson, it’s always so touching, especially when working with first graders. When we do our decompressing exercise and they all reach out to just touch hands because they know their neighbor needs it. That’s the model I want to uphold and keep alive as a teacher.”

Mudry currently still works at LCC and is celebrating her tenth year teaching here. “I love the challenge of working with different types of students,” Mudry said. “I always learn what works and doesn’t every year. It’s really helpful for me as an educator so I can serve those in front of me.”