Marjani Forté-Saunders (LMU Dance ‘04) joins LMU College of Communication and Fine Arts this semester as a Visiting Artist Scholar, instructor, and choreographer. Forté-Saunders, who started as a dancer performer and pivoted to choreography, thinks of her approach to dance and dance education like a ministry: a way of sharing her humanity and her relationship to what might be regarded as nature or the divine. For Forté-Saunders, teaching is a continuation of that unique way of thinking about the craft of dance and an opportunity to share the tools she has gathered along her journey.
Forté-Saunders is currently teaching “Styles & Forms,” which she describes as a “next level” choreography course, giving the students a chance to experience many styles. “I’m approaching my work as something that comes from a long line of teachers and a long line of mentor folks who would show me their approach. And so through me, they’re getting exposure to these ways of making and these approaches to making,” Forté-Saunders said. She is also teaching “I Am, Therefore I Dance,” a course for non-majors. “I’m like, you guys didn’t know what you were getting yourselves into! What I really love about this course is that it encourages them to take what they’ve been given, and tilt their view on it. To look firmly at their values; to look firmly at their lineage; at the practices that give them a sense of foundation and strength,” said Forté-Saunders.
A Pasadena native who has also lived in Harlem, Forté-Saunders brings a wide range of experiences and accolades with her to LMU Dance, including her debut as a choreographer for New York Metropolitan Opera’s “El Niño”; three Bessie awards; and the prestigious Dance Magazine Harkness Award, among many others. For Forté-Saunders, being named a 2023 United Artists Fellow is one of the highlights, saying of the award, “It’s just such a beautiful bounty of artists. And somehow this fellowship has done a really good job at holding the specialness of the award while drawing our attention to the fact that our country is stocked full of critical, creative, critical thinkers and artists who are making moves in their field, making powerful impacts and elevating people’s consciousness.”
