Master Classes with Mark Morris Dance Group

On Friday, February 1, NYU Tisch Dance BFA 1 and 2 students attended master classes with Mark Morris Dance Group members Sam Black and Tisch Dance Alumna, Lauren Grant. 

Sam Black is originally from Berkeley, California, where he began studying tap at the age of nine with Katie Maltsberger. He received his B.F.A. in dance from SUNY Purchase, and currently teaches MMDG master classes and Dance for PD®. He first appeared with MMDG in 2005 and became a company member in 2007. Bio courtesy of Mark Morris Dance Group

LAUREN GRANT, honored with a New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” award for her career with the Mark Morris Dance Group, has danced with MMDG since 1996, appearing in over 60 of Morris' works. In addition to staging Morris' repertory on his company and at universities, Grant teaches ballet and modern technique for numerous professional dance companies and schools around the globe and is an adjunct faculty member at Montclair State University. Her writing has been published in the journal Dance Education in Practice, Ballet Review, Dance Magazine, and InfiniteBody. She also serves as a panelist for the New York State Council on the Arts. Grant earned her M.F.A. in Dance from Montclair State University (where she was a member of the Alpha Epsilon Lambda Honor Society) and her B.F.A. in Dance from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She is a recipient of the prestigious American Association of University Women Career Development Grant, the Sono Osato Scholarship for Graduate Studies, and the Caroline Newhouse Grant—all in support of her scholarly pursuits. Originally from Highland Park, Illinois, she lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband David Leventhal (former MMDG dancer and current Dance for PD® Program Director) and their son, born in 2012. Bio courtesy of Mark Morris Dance Group.