In 2021, “City Lights” began our series “Speaking of Art” to highlight the many diverse visual artists in our city. We have since expanded our series to include “Speaking of Music” and “Speaking of Comedy,” and today, we add “Speaking of Dance” to our collection.
Atlanta’s dance scene is vibrant and eclectic, and we are honored to highlight some of the many local dancers that move us with their movements.
For the first edition of “Speaking of Dance,” we feature Leo Briggs, a dancemaker based in Atlanta. Their dance, though presented for audiences in many contexts, often exists simply for themselves. “I tend to gravitate towards the horizontal plane,” said Briggs.
“I love to just roll and wiggle on the floor and find new patterns; new ways of interacting with the floor.” Briggs also likes to play with natural gravity, often letting their body bend to the direction of gravity rather than resist it – sometimes effort is less expressive than submission.
From the age of eight, Briggs was fascinated with dance. Their parents took them to a production of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker Suite.” “I guess they thought I would be asleep 20 minutes in,” said Briggs, “But I was glued to the edge of my seat.” Progressing through ballet classes but chafing against its technical and prescriptive nature, they then gravitated toward choreography and more free-expressive forms of dance while pursuing the art at Emory University.
