The Ailey School

Lauren Ashlee Small, originally from Springfield, IL, received her early training at Springfield Dance and the Springfield Ballet Company. She trained at The Ailey School in the Scholarship Program after graduating with a BFA in Dance from Belhaven University. She was awarded an MFA in Dance at that same university in 2017 and joined the Marigny Opera Ballet in New Orleans, LA, shortly thereafter. Lauren’s performance credits include: the International Association of Blacks in Dance, the New York Jazz Choreography Project, the 92nd Street Y Undertoe Dance Festival, Museum of the Moving Image’s Persona by Ming Wong, and guest artist showcases with Amalgamate Dance Company and Artivism Dance Theatre. Her honors include membership in the National Honor Society for Dance Arts,  the Oprah Winfrey Foundation Scholarship Award to The Ailey School, the John D. Henderson, Sr. Memorial Scholarship from Belhaven University, and the Performance Category Prize from the Mississippi Museum of Art’s 2016 collegiate invitational. Her faculty positions include Belhaven University where she has taught Modern Dance Technique and Performance courses.