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As I was thinking about how to introduce Lara Seefeldt‘s Dancer Feature, I came across this tribute to her by fellow Whim W’Him dancer Justin Reiter: “Lara Seefeldt is a classic beauty. And don’t let her petite figure fool you, this spitfire packs a punch. I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Lara by dancing with her at Whim W’Him and, from day one, she has never failed to make me laugh. Lara is talented, wise, and has a fierce collection of lipsticks and perfumes that she sports on the daily.

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“Her trove of foam rollers, sports balls, and other self-care tools have kept me in ship shape and I love standing next to her at the ballet barre. You’d never believe it by her figure, but she’s also a mom.”

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It’s not surprising that for Lara the most important quality—in friend, colleague, partner (or herself), in dance and in life—is humor, along with honesty. Clearly a fine-tuned sense of humor plays a necessary role in how she handles, with grace and balance, the sometimes incongruous juxtapositions that compose her world.

Family. Her parents, husband and little daughter are central to her being. When Justin asked, “What has been your greatest success?” she promptly replied, “Having Evelyn, even though I feel like there might be something else, too.” She doesn’t have much time for reading grownup books now, but snuggling with her daughter Evelyn and Cat in the Hat are a highpoint of her day.

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Art. Lara loves to perform, “to lose myself onstage.” Her career as ballerina-turned-contemporary dancer and early Whim W’Him member…

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…also includes regular forays into burlesque, of which she says, “I first made a connection with Lily Verlaine four years ago when she approached me in open class to ask if I would be interested in performing in the Burlesque Nutcracker. What appeals to me most in performing with her is the amount of fun I have. Between the two worlds (Whim and burlesque) I have found two great groups of people that I consider myself to be extremely fortunate to be working with.”

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Lara in The Burlesque Alice in Wonderland

Business. A budding entrepreneur, Lara is sole proprietor of Cinétique Knitwear | leg warmers, knitwear, dancewear—whose motto is “A LITTLE BIT BALLET, A LITTLE BIT BURLESQUE AND A LOT OF YARN” and whose product is custom leg-warmers in 3-color combinations (choose from 20 colors—natural olive through red hat purple to chocolate milk) or beaded with Swarovski crystals. “I am making sales with the knitwear,” says Lara, “and am at the moment the only one working on the business. The key to balancing Whim, burlesque and Cinétique is organization. And coffee.”

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Tory models Cinétique legwarmers

Dancing with Whim W’HIM, Lara has excelled in comic roles, such as the pas de deux with Andrew Bartee in artistic director Olivier Wevers‘s The Sofa

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but shows equal talent as a lost young club goer in Annabelle Lopez Ochoa‘s Crave

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the gossip-hungry watcher in Juanjo Arques‘s Crossroads

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and the complex Josephine, wife of painter Edward Hopper in Penny Saunders‘s Soir Bleu.

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With so many calls on her time and attention, Lara says it’s sometimes challenging to leave her other lives at the studio door. But she gives “110% of myself. Time is limited time and total focus is needed.” The person who inspires her most in her multifaceted and fascinating life is “my mom. She defines what it means to persevere and thrive.” And when asked what would be an ideal day, Lara replies, “I think I’m living it right now.”

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For earlier Behind the Scenes posts on Lara see: dancing lives— Lara Seefeldt 1 and dancing Lives— Lara Seefeldt 2