List of Dancers - L

L

• Rudolf Laban (December 15, 1879 - July 1, 1958) was a notable, central European dance artist and theorist, whose work laid the foundations for Laban Movement Analysis, and other more specific developments.He moved to Munich at age 30 and under the influence of seminal dancer/choreographer Heidi Dzinkowska began to concentrate on the movement arts .Laban established the Choreographic Institute in Zürich in 1915, and later founded branches in Italy, France, and central Europe. One of his great contribution to dance was his 1928 publication of Kinetographie Laban, a dance notation system that came to be called Labanotation and is still used as one of the primary movement notation systems in dance. His theories of choreography and movement served as one of the central foundations of modern European dance. Nowadays, Laban's theories are applied in diverse fields, such as Cultural Studies, Leadership development, Non-Verbal Communication, and more.

• Walter Laird (26 July 1920 – 30 May 2002) Dancesport World Champion in Professional Latin. Author of the Technique of Latin American Dancing, and coached many successful dancers including Allan Tornsberg, Vibeke Toft, Espen Salberg, Jukka Haapalainen and Sirpa Suutari.

• Last For One is a break dancing crew that formed in 1997. With their win in the 2005 Battle of the Year, they have been recognized as a worldwide known name and a contributor to the Korean wave, their fans respectively calling them the ‘Dancing Taeguk Warriors’. Their love for dancing started 7 to 8 years ago when they saw Seotaiji and Boys dancing on television or, like fate, came across a video featuring break dancing. Many of their families had to endure poverty which drove their parents to strongly disagree with their passion for dancing. They danced while others looked on with pity and anger, only keeping one dream in mind: to become a b-boy. In the day, they were busy running around doing any kind of job they could find, and by night, they met together to dance. Living in a small one room apartment did not bother them for they had an outlet called dance. One member said that "All of this was nothing to us because it was happiness in itself that we were able to dance."

• Nick Lazzarini (born in 1984) was the first season winner of the Fox reality show So You Think You Can Dance. He is from Sunnyvale, California and is a trained dancer in jazz, lyrical, hip hop, ballet and modern dance styles. Lazzarini spent two years at the Dance Company of San Francisco and also toured Europe with the RAW dance company, which was founded by choreographer Mia Michaels. He has also taught at conventions for chapters of DANCE MASTERS OF AMERICA, and is a faculty member of 2006 JUMP Alternative Convention.

• Nikolai Legat (born 1869 – died 1937), was a dancer with the Russian Imperial Ballet from 1888 to 1914 and was the main successor to the roles of the great ballet dancer, Pavel Gerdt. Legat later held duties of a balletmaster in Russia, teaching and passing on the legacy of the repertoire of that company, namely the work of the prolific choreographer and great balletmaster, Marius Petipa .Nikolai had a younger brother, Sergei Legat, who was also a dancer with the Imperial Russian Ballet from 1894 to 1905 when he died at age thirty. He originated the role of the Nutcracker (at age 17) at the premiere of the famous Ivanov/Tchaikovsky ballet, The Nutcracker at the Theatre Mariinsky in St. Peterburg, Russia, on December 6, 1892.

• Lawrence Leritz (September 26, 1962) is an American dancer and choreographer. Lawrence's international dance career included working with George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Alvin Ailey, Robert Joffrey, Ruth Page, John Neumeier, Lee Theodore, Tommy Tune and Sir Frederick Ashton, with such major dance companies as Hamburg Ballet, Chicago Ballet, Israel's Bat-Dor Dance Company, Paris Opera and as guest artist throughout the world, including Plácido Domingo's Los Angeles Music Center Opera. Leritz also directed the company Dance Celebration, which he toured worldwide. Leritz was the producer and choreographer of the Off-Broadway hit Boobs! The Musical, during the 2003-2004 season and was nominated for the 2004 Mac Awards for Best Musical Revue.

• Les Twins are a French dance duo composed of identical twin brothers Larry and Laurent Bourgeois (born December 6, 1988). Recognized worldwide for their talents in hip-hop new style dancing and choreography, the self-taught pair were finalists on Incroyable Talent in 2008 and won the Hip-hop New Style division of the prestigious international street dance competition Juste Debout in 2009. They rose to prominence in the U.S. after a video of their 2010 World of Dance San Diego performance went viral on YouTube. The twins have been featured dancers for various music artists, including Beyoncé Knowles and Missy Elliott.

• Māris Liepa (27 July 1936, Riga – 26 March 1989, Moscow) was a Latvian ballet dancer. He graduated from Riga Choreography School where he was taught by Valentīns Bļinovs. He performed in Moscow for the first time in 1950. He has performed on stages of Europe and USA. Liepa has played roles in movies and TV, in Hamlet and Spartacus. A book, I Want to Dance for Hundred Years, was published in Riga in 1981. Liepa is a winner of many distinguished Soviet Union awards, prizes and bestowals, including the Konstsantin Stanislavsky medal, Paris Ballet Academy Vaslav Nijinsky award and Marius Petipa Prize. Latvian National Opera hosts the annual Māris Liepa memorial concerts that are organized by his children - son Andris and daughters Ilze (ballet dancer) and Maria (actress and singer).

• Lil' C (born Christopher A. Toler in January 1983) is an American dancer and choreographer. He has choreographed for So You Think You Can Dance, along with many top music icons.

• José Arcadio Limón (born 1908 – died 1972) was a pioneering modern dancer and choreographer. He was born in Culiacán Mexico and the eldest of 12 children. He moved to New York City in 1928 where he studied under Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman. In 1946, Limón founded the José Limón Dance Company. His most famous dance is The Moor's Pavane (1949), based on Shakespeare's Othello.

• Jennifer Lopez (July 24, 1969), often referred to as J. Lo, is an American actress, singer-songwriter and dancer. Jennifer Lopez is known for her upbeat pop songs and Latin-pop influenced dancing abilities.

• Antonia Mercé y Luque (September 4, 1890 – July 18, 1936), known by her stage name as La Argentina, was a flamenco dancer. She originated and helped to establish the neoclassical style of Spanish dance as a theatrical art. prior to World War I, La Argentina was extremely admired in Paris, where she accepted invitations to dance at the Moulin Rouge and other important locations. In her career she made six transcontinental tours in North America, sometimes accompanied by flamenco guitarist Carlos Montoya. She received several awards, including the French Légion d'honneur and the Spanish Orden de Honor Isabel La Católica.