Laurence Blake

Laurence Blake graduated from the North Carolina School of the Arts and joined Joffrey II and then the Joffrey Ballet, working with notable choreographers Glen Tetley, Sir Frederick Ashton, Gerald Arpino, Robert Joffrey and Twyla Tharp. After moving to Los Angeles, he was a guest artist with the Pacific Northwest Ballet, California Ballet and the Nevada Dance Theatre. Mr. Blake has set original works throughout the West and has been resident choreographer for the Los Angeles Chamber Ballet, Hawaii Ballet Theatre and Pasadena Dance Theatre. His choreography has been nominated for numerous awards, including the Lester Horton Dance Award in 1992, 1993, 1995 and 1997. In 1998 he received the Regional Dance America National Choreography Plan Award for his ballet Holberg Suite. Mr. Blake has appeared in several television dance specials, and has been on the dance faculty of the California Institute of the Arts since 1982. He was the recipient of an individual artist grant from the Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division for his collaborative work with Pasadena composer Cary Belling and several local musicians.