Originally from La Ceiba, Honduras, Gerson first encountered the art form of tap dance after moving to New York City in 2001. He immediately fell in love with the art after his first encounter. Lanza began training at Wadleigh School for the Performing and Visual Arts and the Harlem School of the Arts. He has completed residencies at Lincoln Center, Jacob’s Pillow, Guggenheim Work and Progress Series, Fall for Dance Festival at New York City Center with New York-based company Music From The Sole, led by Leonardo Sandoval and Gregory Richardson. In his own right he has been featured as Strathmore Amplify Artist and Artist in Residence, featured in Artist at the Center at New York City Center, curated by Ayodele Casel, which landed his first New York Times review for his choreographic work, and lastly headlined the Millennium Stage with his jazz quintet at The Kennedy Center—all while simultaneously working towards a master’s degree in performance studies and dance from the University of Maryland.
Lanza received his Master in Fine Arts (MFA) from The University of Maryland, where he focused on the Afro-Latinx diaspora. His research landed him the International Program for Creative Collaboration & Research Grant to study the relation of the African diaspora in Honduras and Spain through the lens of tap dance. Gerson has also served as a consultant and presenter for 92 Street Y's newest curriculum, "Tracing Footsteps, " taught by performing arts educators in New York City. Whether performing alongside spoken word artists, musicians, other dancers, or in solo performances, Lanza mesmerizes with complex moves that he makes look easy.
Gerson's goal is to one day empower others to act on their dreams and sies the opportunity as he is living his dream through rhythm, movement, and scholarly work.
Teaching Philosophy
Each student drives my teaching philosophy as their unique voice and perspective offer diversity in the classroom. I view my role as a teacher to help students discover and cultivate their styles. With this in mind, I define my teaching philosophy with three main objectives: 1) Celebrating diversity actively excavates persistent cultural knowledge within students, nudging them into a practice of responsibility sharing within the classroom. 2) Cultivating a space for creative self-expression encourages risk-taking when exploring newness and navigating the unfamiliar. 3) Facilitating multicultural playgrounds through the art of dance to invite students to unapologetically be themselves while fostering an honest yet inclusive learning environment.
I initiate my movement practice with a five-minute improvisatory circle to ignite exploration. This Africanist approach allows students to claim and share space with others, fostering a sense of community and collaboration. In this circular setting, I then introduce musical movement patterns where we can comfortably settle in with ease. As we settle in, students gradually warm up into a playful polyrhythmic sounding body. In my pedagogical practice, the cipher has proven to aid students in finding their own creative, physical, and intellectual abilities within the dancing and communal space.
The cipher prioritizes creating a safe and supportive learning environment where my students feel free to take risks and explore new techniques. I emphasize that mistakes are not failures, but an inevitable and valuable part of the learning process. I encourage my students to embrace them as opportunities for growth and self-improvement. The cipher is a testament to our communal effort towards inclusion and collaboration. By understanding where students are in their practice, we build a bond of trust and encourage active participation. Creating an environment where everyone contributes to the class ignites a sense of ownership and commitment to growth.
Finally, I believe in using dance to connect with and honor our cultural roots. As an Afro-Latino tap dancer, I draw inspiration from my cultural heritage and encourage my students to do the same. By sharing our diverse experiences and perspectives, we can create a vibrant dance tapestry that celebrates the human experience’s beauty and complexity. In return, the classroom turns into an empty canvas where everyone involved contributes a brush stroke toward a classroom portrait.
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Gerson Lanza joins Funaki for a speed duel. He tap as jackhammer, all while his upper body radiates casual.."
/ Boston Globe /
Research
As an Afro-Honduran immigrant in the United States and a tap dance practitioner, I am curious about the complex intersectionalities of multiculturalism, migration, and cultured embodiment. Through these curiosities, my research explores the fascinating connections between tap dance and Latin America while also situating them as vital parts of the African diaspora. In doing so, my research is invested in three main strategies: 1. Reasserting that Blackness is an expansive term and should engage with Afro-Latinidad as a vital member of its diaspora; 2. Promoting the inclusion of Afro-Diasporic studies in dance and performance studies curriculum in higher education; 3. Creating an ever-evolving platform that challenges systemic oppression and nurtures diversity within dance education and performance research.
Through my Afro-Latinidad cultural studies, I have come to understand Black as a term that can describe one's ethnicity, race, or both. This may be a different (although not new) understanding of the term Black; however, I acknowledge that people of African descent possess distinct languages, traditions, and culinary practices unique to their demographic and diasporic thread. Therefore, where access to the identity “American” was withheld, I see Black as an ethnicity used by a subset of people to establish an adequate description of their nationhood. As a scholar at the intersection of these complex understandings of our racial caste system, I draw upon my experiences to offer my audiences a glimpse into my relationship to immigration and migration. I do so by staging dances such as the Mascaro with jazz musical styles driven by narrative language spoken in English, Spanish, and the Garifuna language. Placing these intentional gestures in conversation with the legacies of tap dancing brings attention to a population often overlooked in Latin studies and raises essential questions about how Afro-Latino/as are to situate themselves within the Black cultural terrain in the United States.