Today we’d like to introduce you to T Lang.
T. Lang is dedicated to exposing the arts and emerging communities to the creative impact and genius of dance. Lang earned her Bachelors and Masters of Fine Arts in performance and choreography from the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts respectively.
In the early days of her career, Lang danced with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet and Marlies Yearby’s Movin’ Spirits Dance Theater. Lang relocated T. Lang Dance from New York City to Atlanta in 2008, continuing to develop, direct, and produce a high-impact blend of traditional and experimental contemporary movement. In 2011, T. Lang was commissioned to create work in collaboration with Grammy award winning artists Sweet Honey in the Rock. This work, 4 Little Girls, was presented at the Gala Concert during the historic unveiling of the King Monument in Washington, DC.
Lang’s production of MOTHER / MUTHA premiered in 2012, presented at the Goat Farm Arts Center. Creative Loafing and Arts America called this work a “powerfully thought provoking… masterfully blended work” of “unsettling genius.” MOTHER/MUTHA delves deeply into the dark complexities of American history. It thoroughly examines the origin of objectifying African American women, a topic rarely examined so vividly and honestly through the lens of dance.
In 2014, The High Museum of Art and the Goat Farm Arts Center both commissioned Lang to create original work. This ignited the vision for Post Up, the first installment of a four-part series. At the Goat Farm, Post Up pushed the boundaries of dance to create a multimodal experience of rich audio and visual adventure. The second installment, Post Up In The House was presented by the High Museum of Art and performed as a visual installation within the Mi Casa, Your Casa public art exhibition, created by contemporary designers Héctor Esrawe and Ignacio Cadena. Also in 2014, T. Lang Dance collaborated on Doxology Ring Shout, a project with American choreographer Dianne McIntyre for the 2014 National Black Arts Festival. Lang’s 2015 season began with a commission from Flux Projects for a collaboration with visual artist, Nick Cave. Nick Cave’s Up Right Atlanta was presented in collaboration with T. Lang Dance at Ponce City Market and was later awarded 2015’s Best Collaboration from Creative Loafing Atlanta. Later in 2015 the third installment of Post Up called LIT Variations #1-10 was performed in various locations throughout the city including the private home studio of visual artist Radcliffe Bailey.
Lang’s 2016 season included another commission from the High Museum of Art’s Jean-Michel Basquiat exhibit and another award from Creative Loafing Atlanta for Best Choreographer. T. Lang began the 2017 season with an ambitious and successful three week run of POST, Lang’s award winning 4 part series, Post Up presented at Fort McPherson. Lang is an Associate Professor and founding Department Chair of Spelman Dance at Spelman College. Lang stays engaged with the next generation of movement artists through her summer dance intensive SWEATSHOP and as a faculty member at the American Dance Festival and the Staibdance Summer Intensive in Sorrento, Italy.
Has it been a smooth road?
I found the challenges that have been frequently happening is this lack of knowledge that dance companies are businesses. Dance companies have overhead and a responsibility to create sustainability in order to delve into future projects. I have found it disappointing and straight up rude when I have been approach to create and the other party does not have a confirmed budget nor the funding to secure my intellectual property in advance and get frustrated with me because I honor my worth. It is important that we understand going forward that if one desires to have a certain caliber of art that you say you value, you must pay and pay in full.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the T. Lang Dance story. Tell us more about the business.
My mission statement is the following: T. Lang Dance creates a poetic expression of movement, illustrating deep, rousing investigations regarding identity and historical narratives. Through the vehicle of modern dance, Lang’s work communicates perspectives with depth and style that capture the viewer with evocative physicality, emotional range and technical feats.
In addition, peers in Atlanta like friend and artist Brandon Jones said recently via Creative Capital’s blog “T. Lang’s work resonates far beyond the boundaries of dance. What makes T. Lang and her company so distinctive is how they grapple with identity, history, and race in ways that both challenges audiences to think deeper and more critically, while also remaining accessible to those engaging with dance at various entry points. She is also an Atlanta rock star when it comes to nurturing and developing emerging talent.” Comments like these, when our viewers truly see and acknowledge the essence and intentions of my work, are the most proud moments we cherish. It brings an undeniable sense of satisfaction knowing all the layers that it takes to create just one step, one moment inside a 60 minute work is noticed and strikes a nerve.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Yes. In the works of trademarking my technique and building a unique interdisciplinary dance lab that will eventually become a franchise. I am also in the process of developing more works for film and museum spaces.
Contact Info:
- Website: tlangdance.com
- Email: t.lang@tlangdance.com
- Instagram: tlangdance
- Facebook: tlangdanceatl
- Twitter: tlangdanceco
Image Credit:
BCarrWorks
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
