Mission
T. Lang Dance creates poetic movement landscapes, illustrating deep and rousing investigations into interdisciplinary creative practices, historical narratives and identity.
T. Lang creates, writes and teaches poetic expressions of dance, which illustrates deep, arousing investigations relevant to issues of identity, history and community. Through the vehicle of contemporary modern dance with emphasis on the interdisciplinary, Lang’s work communicates perspectives with depth, soul and a movement style that captures the attention of the viewer with its evocative physicality, technical range and emotional viability. Her work is inspired by the desire to invite audiences into personal and subjective experiences of inspiration, family stories, shared history; a fascination with the connections in between; and the desire to investigate them together on the dance floor. After years of choreography, academia, and performance, Lang continues to explore new mediums, such as AR and VR technology, and various modes of collaboration, to immerse audiences in what she hopes are powerful, transformative experiences. T. Lang connects dance, space, technology, and creative collaborators to move audiences into a greater understanding of our past, present and future.
With commissions from the High Museum of Art, Goat Farm Arts Center, Flux Projects and more, Lang also stays engaged with the next generation of movement artists through her BLACK ENDURANCE Community programming as Artistic Director of her dance company, T. Lang Dance. She is also the Founding Director and owner of The Movement Lab ATL, an interdisciplinary incubator for creativity. T. Lang is an Associate Professor and was the inaugural department chair of Dance Performance and Choreography at Spelman College. Lang builds curricula consistent with her creative research. Thus students enroll in her courses that consider the execution of 21st century embodiment as intellectual, artistic, and civic practice through reflection, research, and performance. Her interdisciplinary courses weigh how economic, social, and political forces have shaped how black bodies set themselves in motion as fugitives, maroons, and citizens. Lang has been recognized by the National Dance Educators Organization (NDEO) as the 2024 Outstanding Dance Educator in Higher Education (Established) Award.
T. Lang was the 2022 Emory University Arts and Social Justice Fellow, and the 2023 recipient of Princeton University’s Collaboration, Research and Innovation Grant award. In 2024, Lang was awarded the National Endowment for the Arts for the development of Out From the Deep: Unraveling Them Turners, and Spelman College's NSM Faculty Seed Award funded by the U.S. Department of Education Award No. P116Z220174. Recently, Lang was awarded a Black Public Media Fellowship at the Johnny Carson Media Center at University of Nebraska, Lincoln for work in immersive technology. She continues her new developments with movement and creative technology with artist residencies at Georgia Tech and Duke University this fall as she begins creating for her upcoming 2025 work, Thighs of Thunder.
About T. Lang
I am a woman who reflects on her childhood like one searching for answers to the future. Let me draw the picture:
I grew up in middle america, where I lived in a homogeneous community in a two-parent household where it was filled with immense love, security, laughter, and lessons. My parents, who were educators, taught me the value and legacy of our family's history. I grew up always asking my parents detailed questions about their childhood, personal questions that went beyond knowing the history/legacy, but I was more interested in learning how they handled life emotionally. I wanted to know our shared character and our codes. I was always curious to learn what connects me emotionally, or rather, learning of our similar behavioral traits that I share with my family's past encounters. I would often sit in my parents' office and watch them gather research for their lectures. When they hosted gatherings with their colleagues discussing hot topics of the day, I would sit at the top of the stairs pretending to be a part of the conversations, imitating their body language and making up my own gestures that emphasize their points. I fondly remember nightly dance improvisation sessions while my father played the piano and my mother gracefully reclined… I would watch them deliver eloquent speeches that had the same tone when they would read stories to me and my sister at bedtime or at the kitchen table. They were brilliant storytellers who continued to use this creative delivery inside their conservative careers. Their love towards each other and to us was felt, affirmed and delivered daily. I needed this action since growing up in my community, though I was "popular" i experienced not belonging since i didn't look, speak, carry myself in a manner that made others feel "comfortable". I was made to feel like an other other.
My maternal grandparents were successful entrepreneurs in the deep south. Their love, commitment, support for each other was displayed every single day till my grandmother departed this plane... I would listen to many conversations around the dinner table about their new business strategies to issues of colorism that my grandmother would deal with even as a grown women…., to stories of the effects of america’s apartheid system and how their resilience carried them through america's terror. My maternal grandparents taught me about spirituality and the benefits of being connected to a stronger presence- The Highest Presence.
My paternal grandparents lived deeper in the south on our family farm, where they worked sun up to sun down to ensure that all 8 of their children would live the life of their dreams. They were pillars in their small country community. They were generous to others though I could never figure out how they could manage maintaining their land, providing for their family and being of service to their neighbors with little financial means. They never publicly shared their heartbreak when their good heart was taken for granted…. Ideas stolen… At their table I would hear horror stories of america's injustice followed by "children leave the table…" as my aunts and uncles continued to reminisce. Somehow, through the painful and complicated conversations I would always hear hysterical laughter. It could be possible that laughter covered the pain and the reality that the unresolved suffering left for my generation was our responsibility to heal.
Perhaps , it is the very reason I am compelled/convicted to create works that uncover untold truths of American history allowing the other other to see more reflections inside an uncanny lens. Tackling, creating and reimagining the works I make, presents itself as therapeutic encounters for my mind, body and spirit. As if it is a healing and empowering experience from my childhood memories that I hold dear,.... for a new america… a new world… to assist with capturing the new experiences we build for T. Lang Dance. It is only natural that I create works that investigate identity, history, community and spirituality. These stories\experiences are a part of America's intricately complex fabric and provide perspectives that I cherish and celebrate, leading me to create works with soul, coded humor and depth.
