Lauren Grant, honored with a New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award for her decades of outstanding performance with the Mark Morris Dance Group, appeared in nearly 80 of Morris’ works from 1996-2020. Some of her most well-known roles include Marie in The Hard Nut, the Nurse in Romeo & Juliet, On Motifs of Shakespeare, her featured role in “Eleven” from Mozart Dances, and her pairing with Morris in From Old Seville. Grant has staged Morris’ dances for his company and university students, was a founding faculty member at The School at the Mark Morris Dance Center, and has taught on faculty and as a guest teacher at universities and across the globe. 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 Arts. She is also a recipient of the 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. In addition to her experience as a performer and educator, Grant’s writing has been published in The Dance Enthusiast (where she served as a senior contributing writer), Dance Education in Practice, Ballet Review, Dance Magazine, and InfiniteBody. With a deep passion for the work and mission of the Mark Morris Dance Group, Grant now enjoys supporting the organization through her work as part of the Development Department.