From The Top
From the beginning, I struggled academically. From first grade through twelfth grade, I attended thirteen different schools—and my family never moved. I was slated to repeat first grade because I couldn’t read.
What’s more, I never could catch, see, hit, kick, or dodge a ball. My failures on the court, on the track, in the gym, and in the classroom were nothing compared to what happened on the playground. I was a goofball who spent most of recess playing on the swings alone or sitting inside a classroom to avoid getting beat up by the other kids.
Pivotal Moment
A pivotal life moment occurred when mother used the word, “opportunity.” This resulted in me attending college.
Education
I earned my BA from the George Washington University. I majored in Political Science because my goal was to be the first black woman elected to the U.S. Senate.
While earning my undergrad degree I served as a Congressional Intern on Capitol Hill for a member of the United States House of Representatives.
I moved in 1993 from Washington, DC to Austin and earned an MBA from The University of Texas. I’m a Longhorn.
Corporate Life
I worked at various Fortune 500 companies including The Sara Lee Corporation in Winston-Salem. They recruited me after business school to brand managed a line of panty hose. I quit after five months because life without show tunes and show business was unbearable.
Flap Ball Change
Dance has always been a part of my life. I grew up dancing at my mother’s studio in New York, The Adele Johnson School of Performing Arts.
I have eight siblings who all know how to execute a mean time step. One of my brothers, Kevin, will swear he taught me everything tap dance. However, one look at his flap ball change reveals the truth.
Three Sisters
I toured with two of my sisters as part of a tap dancing and drumming trio called, Three Sister’s Tappin’. Then my younger sister quit (family drama).
My older sister and I carried on as Two Sister’s Tappin‘. Then she quit. Now I’m A Sister Tappin’.
Drum Call
I traveled to Guinea, West Africa to study Djembe with Les Percussions de Guinea and Les Ballets Africains. It was a wonderful experience.
Tremaine Dance
I’m honored to teach tap dancing on Tremaine Dance Conventions.
Author
- Rich by Choice, Poor by Habit, 2004
- Tap-In to Your Full Potential, 2010
- Dance into Life, co-authored with Joe Tremaine, 2018
Home Sweet Home
I live with my wife, Brie. We met at a bar/club. She assumed I was part of that evening’s entertainment.
This is how she tells it:
“Your teeth were so white. I just assumed you were a singer in the band because you just looked like an artist. I remember watching you on the dance floor and thinking, “She’s gotta be a singer . . . because she certainly ain’t no dancer.”
LaurieTALKS
Family, friends, teachers, and colleagues referred to me for years as a first-class, out-to-lunch daydreamer. I’ve been told all my life that I’m on cloud 9.
To that end, preparation is under way to display as a digitalized, Virtual Reality, 3-D avatar who tap dances through the untapped space of the Tapaverse – which of course is in the metaverse . . . somewhere on cloud 9.
