Lauren Suflita Skrabalak
Lauren Suflita Skrabalak has spent the past 20 years of her career dedicated to the growth of Bodiography as a company artist, Assistant Director of Bodiography Center for Movement, Director of BCB Charlotte, and regisseur of Caruso's choreographic collection. Following the 20th anniversary season, Skrabalak was named as the first Artistic Director of the company following in the footsteps of Founding Director, Maria Caruso.
Skrabalak earned her BFA in Ballet Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Utah in 2002. While on scholarship, her undergraduate performing career included a guest artist role with Ballet West and dancing with the Utah Ballet. This allowed for an opportunity to travel abroad to Taipei, Taiwan performing a soloist role in Balanchine's famed ballet Concerto Barocco. She also danced on the Medals Plaza stage during the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics.
After graduation, Skrabalak performed, choreographed, and taught for Bodiography Contemporary Ballet in Pittsburgh. As a principal dancer, she was privileged to have worked with such choreographers as: Ze'eva Cohen, Emeritus Chair of Princeton University's Dance Department, Tony nominated Lynne Taylor-Corbett, and former principal dancer for the American Ballet Theatre Johan Renvall, in addition to a vast array of original works by Maria Caruso.
Her choreographic works have appeared at the Byham Theater, Kelly-Strayhorn Theater, as well as Johnson Theatre, and she has extended her teaching talents to the following schools: University of Utah, Point Park University, Carnegie Mellon University, West Virginia University, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Washington & Jefferson College, McDaniel College, La Roche University, and now Winthrop University where she is an Adjunct Professor within the Department of Theatre and Dance. Ms. Skrabalak earned her MFA in Performing Arts and Dance at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and graduated Spring 2013 with honors. She is a certified Pilates mat teacher and is currently working towards her apparatus certification. Presently, aside from her work with Bodiography, Skrabalak is on faculty at the Charlotte Ballet Academy and UNC Charlotte.