Lauren E. Chin ’09

Being a full-time student at Harvard is enough to make anyone’s head spin. But try being a biomedical engineering concentrator and contemporary dancer as well as a ballerina. This is the case for Lauren E. Chin ’08-’09. Luckily, her poise and grace managed to carry her pirouetting to the OFA’s Suzanne Farrell Dance Award.

The prize—whose namesake was once the prima ballerina of the New York City Ballet—is given to the Harvard undergraduate who has demonstrated exemplary artistry in the field of dance. Chin’s impressive dancing is matched only by her skillful balancing of schoolwork with artistic pursuits, all the while maintaining infectious optimism and an upbeat, casual attitude.

“She has an incredible, positive, practical, energetic way of being,” remarks James C. Fuller ’10, former co-director of the Harvard Ballet Company (HBC) and one of Chin’s dance partners. “I don’t actually know how she does what she does, but it certainly does not seem like she is gritting her teeth.”

Chin has been dancing since she was three, and has made great strides from the first time she donned pointe shoes at age 11. When she was just 16, she left home to perform with a professional company in Ohio. She then became a member of the HBC in 2004, although for Chin, ballet has lately been eclipsed by other forms of dance.

“I realized I love dance, but not ballet,” Chin says. “There’s so much in the world of dance that I moved towards the contemporary and modern dance track.”

Though she has remained with the HBC through her Harvard career, she sees several advantages to contemporary dance. “It’s unfortunate… the most cutting edge choreographers are outside of ballet, and that is what I am most interested in,” she says.

“With contemporary dance, you do not have to be 16 years old,” she adds. “You can actually still be dancing at 20.”

This summer, Chin will be transferring her contemporary dance skills from the Harvard Contemporary Dance Ensemble to several prestigious summer programs. For the last semester, she has worked as a teaching fellow for Dramatic Arts 127: “Rite of Spring at the Nexus of Artand Ritual.” The creator of this class, visiting lecturer Christine W. Dakin, will be sending Chin to her program, Danzefest, in Italy. In June, Chin will also be attending Springboard Danse Montreal, a program founded by a Julliard professor that accepts just 60 dancers from the country’s best conservatories.

Despite the many artistic opportunities coming her way, Chin remains grounded and humbled by the Harvard community.

“For me the biggest element is to know that I have such amazing support,” she says of winning the OFA’s award. “To know the most involved people in the arts would select me from all the other extremely dedicated people is really wonderful to know. I feel like I have really contributed something.”

According to Fuller, she has been one of the most active and involved people in dance productions at Harvard.

“She brings so much energy, enthusiasm, and insight into everything that she does,” he says. “She always dances to her fullest and I think she inspires everyone in the room to dance as best they can. She is a really wonderful person to work and dance with.”