Robert Battle ready to collaborate with students, faculty in creation of a dance performance

Robert Battle, Lawrence University’s inaugural creator in residence, will be back on campus in late February to work with student dancers and musicians in preparation for a performance planned for Spring Term.

The acclaimed choreographer and former artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was named Lawrence’s first creator in residence in the fall. He spent more than a week on campus in October for what he called a “get-to-know-you experience,” teaching dance classes, talking with faculty and students, and making connections in the community.

“We had a wonderful time in the class, them getting to know my artistic journey, my value system in terms of art and how it has informed my life and how it informs theirs,” Battle said. “The conversation has just started. The next part of that is to create a work with select students and collaborate on what that work will be and how it might be meaningful.” 

The pioneering creator in residence role that was made possible through a gift from Harold ’72 and Mary Donn ’73 Jordan speaks to the university's commitment to academic and artistic excellence. Future creator in residence programming is expected to span a range of disciplines, from sciences to humanities to arts. 

The connection with students when Battle was here in the fall was immediate. They have a passion for dance, he said, but their interests go well beyond. And the studio in Warch Campus Center where he led classes, with light pouring in through the massive windows, was inspiring.

“These students are multifaceted,” Battle said. “They’re really smart, and they value art, they value dance in this particular scenario. They have a lot to express, a lot to say.”

Building a performance

When he returns on Feb. 22, Battle will spend a week working with students and faculty on a performance built on artistic expression. The performance will evolve quickly and organically as Battle collaborates with the dancers and musicians. 

“Usually, I come in with my steps and you do the steps and that’s it,” Battle said. “But my feeling from being there in the fall is that it will flow both ways in terms of them being a part of the creation of this work, which is new for me and perhaps new for them. To me, that’s my excitement, to always be learning, investigating, trying new things. I think this is a space where I felt safe to do that, very much supported by the faculty and by the dancers.”

Battle will then return for nearly two weeks in May to finalize and present the performance. Dates and times have not been announced. 

A new focus

Lawrence’s Creator in Residence program is one of Battle’s first professional opportunities after stepping away from the Ailey troupe in late 2023. Since his first visit to Lawrence in October, he has been named resident choreographer of the acclaimed Paul Taylor Dance Company and has been invited to teach at other schools. It’s a role he embraces.

“It’s wonderful because I can now drop in and then move forward,” Battle said. “I get to sort of be an independent artist again, which is exciting—to be in different spaces with different organizations that have different footprints and different modes of working. That’s what’s happening now.”

At Lawrence and elsewhere, Battle said, it’s a time for him to give back, to be that inspiration to others that his teachers and mentors have been to him. 

“I’ve done a lot in my career in dance,” he said. “I’ve climbed ladders and mountains that I didn’t even think possible. I feel I’m at this place in my career where I really want to give back in meaningful ways. The most impact on my career has been from people who did just that, pay it forward. Teachers who, yes, they taught dance, but the things they really taught you were life lessons through dance. So, people who know me know I’m always lifting up the names of teachers who have had that kind of impact on me. I want to be that for these students.”