About Lola MacLaughlin

The endowment was established to recognize Lola MacLaughlin, renowned experimental and interdisciplinary dancer and choreographer, and founder and artistic director EDAM (Experimental Dance and Music) and Lola Dance. MacLaughlin received a BA in Modern Dance from SFU in 1981 and was a thoughtful, inventive fixture in the Vancouver arts community.

MacLaughlin’s choreography was informed and influenced by a profound sense of place, and a deep reverence and respect for the natural world, its patterns and logic. At the same time, she was a keen observer of the human condition and with humour, wit, melancholy, elegance, and intelligence; she explored both the universal and the familiar – the wider questions of all of existence and everyday moments. She was a deeply compassionate artist with a strong sense of conscience. She approached her creative work holistically by considering both the visual and emotional whole and by making her art work total (Gesamtkunstwerk). She regularly worked collaboratively with music composers, visual artists, poets, videographers, stage managers, set and lighting designers, sound artists, costume designers and, of course, her beloved dancers. While she had the remarkable ability to think broadly and largely, she was acclaimed for her incisive and highly professional attention to detail and excellence.