Keeping their legacy alive
About Immortal Icons of Dance™
Immortal Icons of Dance™ was founded by Lauryn Johnson in 2021 as an initiative to increase access to and awareness of educational dance history resources. The goal is to curate information and experiences from a vast array of primary sources--institutional archives, books, articles, photos, footage, interviews--and place them in context with each other so that one source can further illuminate another. Immortal Icons of Dance seeks to preserve the history of dance by encouraging people to become curious, ask questions, honor, and celebrate our past.
The Vault houses content related to the development of important 20th-century choreographic works from ballet to modern to Broadway, with a special focus on the history of the New York City Ballet. The Podcast gathers oral histories from dancers who worked with the great dance-makers of the past, protecting their stories and preserving them for the future. The Shop is a celebration of our favorite dancers and choreographers, allowing us to wear proudly on our chest the trailblazers who inspire us.
Our Founder
Lauryn Johnson is a dancer, choreographer and instructor; a graphic designer, writer, and dance historian; and generally a very curious person. To learn more about Lauryn as a performer, visit lauryn-johnson.com and follow @laurynjohnson20 on Instagram. Don't be surprised if you run into her at a theater in New York—she works at several—including the New York City Ballet, the NY Philharmonic, and other Broadway theaters. But more often you'll find Lauryn with her nose in a book or in the dance studio.
In 2021, upon discovering an archive of hidden dance treasures at the New York Public Library, she was inspired to crack open every filing cabinet, dusty book, and manila folder to see what else lay unseen and unappreciated in libraries across the country. With the encouragement of the dance community, she made it her mission to bring forgotten dance stories to light.
Lauryn received her B.A. in graphic design and writing from Oakland University and graduated magnum cum laude. She has been commissioned to curate dance history content for the Vail Dance Festival and the George Balanchine Foundation, and has contributed to the Jerome Robbins Foundation newsletter.