Laura Marchese is a Master Teaching Artist working with arts organizations and schools throughout New Jersey, conducting residencies and workshops for students, arts educators, and classroom teachers. She has been recognized with a NJ Governor’s Arts in Education Distinguished Teaching Artist Award, YANJ/EP Artist of the Year Award, and as a recipient of the National Teaching Artist Credential from Young Audiences Arts for Learning network, has conducted professional learning workshops for colleagues across the country, and served as a mentor and leader in the Teaching Artist community. Laura is co-author of Dance to Learn, a developmental dance curriculum currently in use serving thousands of students throughout NJ.

As a presenter, Laura’s work has been shared at conferences including NDEO, Young Audiences National, the NJ Education Association, and the Early Learning Institute STEAM Conference (keynote).

As a Teaching Artist, Laura engages with hundreds of students annually. Her work is collaborative and creates a space where students and teachers share ideas while developing and exploring their individual creativity, with inclusive cultural responsive teaching practices, social emotional learning, and equity as the highest priorities. While serving as Managing Director of Dance on the Lawn from 2013 to 2022, Laura was part of a team that celebrated the diversity of dance in NJ by presenting an annual free dance festival that brought together artists, students, and fans of dance in the community. Laura is also founder of the Montclair Community Pre-K Garden Project, a hands on environmental science program that engages hundreds of students, families and teachers annually. Her work, passion, and advocacy for environmental issues and the study of the natural world include designing and maintaining multiple school garden sites, and managing multiple garden locations that provide food for local food pantries, and well as opportunities for community involvement and celebration.

Laura trained at the Martha Graham School for Contemporary Dance, at the Limon Institute, and with artists including Marjorie Mussman, Bill T. Jones, and Risa Steinberg. Performance credits include the companies of Blondell Cummings, David Gordon, The Doris Humphrey Repertory Dance Company, and Jeanette Stoner and Dancers in NYC.

As an arts educator, I am committed to the ongoing development of a thinking mind in a moving body. I believe that all students, whatever their challenges and strengths, can achieve, excel, and benefit from seeing and experiencing the world through the process of creating art.