VLA DANCE is a project directed by Victoria Lynn Awkward, exploring contemporary performance through the lineage of queer and black artistry.
Victoria Lynn Awkward is a multi-hyphenate creator, administrator, educator and the Director of VLA DANCE. She pursued her multiple interests at Goucher College and graduated with high honors in Dance, Visual Art and Secondary Education. As the Director of VLA DANCE she is researching how to lead with joy, pleasure, and breath in and outside of art making practices. This work is guided through the lineage of Black and queer liberation practitioners. Alongside directing VLA DANCE, Victoria is a freelance artist, who most recently choreographed for Huntington Theater, Company One Theatre, Boston Lyric Opera, and Commonwealth Shakespeare. As a performer she has worked for Jasmine Hearn, Shura Baryshnikov, Jenna Pollack, and others. Victoria is also an educator having worked at Salem State University, Brown University, West End House, Middlesex School, and Urbanity Dance. She continues to deepen her teaching practices as a mentee with Midday Movement Series. Victoria is currently a Brother Thomas Fellow, and recipient of the Next Steps for Boston Grant Dance Program as well as a recipient of the Queer (Re)public Theater Offensive Residency. Through her work she aims to inspire people to pause and reflect on their actions towards themselves, their community and their environment.
Guided by breath, expansive movement, and tactile fabric textures, In The Space Between is a river towards care and liberation. This show is in progress with The Theater Offensive through the Queer (Re)public Residency.
Photo by Victor Figueroa courtesy of Double Edge Theater
Photo by Najee Brown
Premiered at Hibernian Hall and Multicultural Art Center in 2023.
For Nina is an interdisciplinary tribute to Nina Simone. We celebrate her liberation practices, artistry, and humanity through dance and live music. Lead artists include dancer Victoria Lynn Awkward, pianist Camila Cortina Bello, and vocalist Desiré Graham.
PROJECTS
Storytellers, caregivers, world creators, and narrative disruptors, Black Femme/Women dancers have historically and are uniquely positioned to embody imagination and three-dimensional awareness lending to empathetic and affective leadership. Through print & audio interviews, The For Nina Project archives the necessity, impact, and journey of Black Femme/Women dance leaders.
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"And then there is Victoria herself. I love hearing what Victoria has to say about her work– especially with regard to themes like persistence through change — and then seeing these notions play out in her real life. Watching her grow as a choreographer and put on more events like this is encouraging and exciting. Whether it’s a show popping up somewhere I wouldn’t expect, or the fact that she is putting art into a world that does not always welcome it."
- William Kryjak, Boston Hassle
Contact administration@vladance.com
Instagram @dancevla
VLA DANCE is thankful for the generous grants from Barr Foundation and The City of Boston's Boston Cultural Council. Alongside additional project-based funding, which can be seen on each project page, these general operating use grants are significant in shifting the ethos of our work and establishing VLA DANCE as a sustaining project.
Victoria offer's contemporary dance workshops for advanced dancers.
Victoria's class celebrates expansion of a dynamic mind and body through contemporary dance rooted in rhythm, spirals, and weight shifting. Class includes guided improvisations, heat building exercises, and contemporary phrase work that allows class takers to access both length and strength within their muscles.
Book Victoria for a workshop at victoria@vladance.com
