Musing on Sensuality with Lauren Gerrie
A conversation with the NYC-based creative on sensuality as a driving force for her life.
When I think of people that embody everyday sensuality, Lauren Gerrie has always been at the top of my list. Not that I know her personally - I took her IG live dance classes during the COVID lockdowns in 2020, and have admired (read: fan-girled) her approach to life since, from afar. She has an iconic and infectious energy - one of those women that you want to be, for the authentic, energetic expression that she shares with the world.
A creative working in the culinary and movement worlds, Lauren seamlessly moves from movement direction to figure modeling; world building to cooking. She co-founded MOVES with Marisa Competello, a dance class that embodies sensuality and joy in every way. Her world is one you want to be a part of.
With me based in Wellington, New Zealand on a winter’s day, and Lauren in NYC summer before she headed to Paris, we chatted about sensuality as a driving force in life, the development of MOVES, intergenerational wisdom and more. I tried to trim it down, but I just…couldn’t. So settle in.
If you’re new here, Notes on Sensuality is an exploration of everyday sensuality, led by me - Maxine Kelly, the founder of Underlena, in New Zealand.
M: Lauren, hello! Thank you so much for taking the time to speak. I’m really so thrilled. I was thinking about how I discovered you years ago - I found your MOVES class when we were going into deep, dark COVID times, and it was literally the thing that helped keep me sane alone in my apartment in Auckland.
L: That means a lot. It kept all of us - including Marisa and I - sane. And it’s grown into something that she and I could have never imagined. But it feels really spectacular to be able to share it with someone that you’ve known for so long and danced with for so long. And also that it’s the thing we both love the most, and we get to share that and see it in other people or pull it out of them.
The thing that Marisa and I really try to harness in MOVES and really in any dance class that we enter into is that it should be led with joy and appreciation for being able to move our bodies, being together, sharing any sort of music and dance form that we want.
M: It’s really wonderful, and was such a balm for me. So when did you start MOVES? Where did it all come from?
L: Well, there's two answers to that. We originally started Moves many years ago. I'm really terrible with time but I think we’ve been doing this iteration of Moves for eight years, and we started originally 12 years prior to that because one of our good friends who's also a choreographer and dancer, Ryan Heffington, had a studio in Los Angeles called The Sweat Spot where he taught Sweaty Sundays and Wet Wednesdays. And - I'm from Southern California, so Marisa and I would always be going back for work or pleasure or whatever and always taking Ryan's classes. We loved that the class was all levels - there was no class in New York that was all levels , so with his blessing, we started one.
We were pre-Instagram first of all, and we were keeping with his model which was like a very very LA thing - it was on Sundays, it was in the morning or it was in the late afternoon around 5pm. We were dancing to old songs and we were at this studio that was great but not necessarily right. We did that for a while and then life happened and we stopped - we took a break from it.
We came back to doing MOVES because we found this children’s dance school which happened to be in the same building as the original Sky Ting space on Chrystie Street. Marisa had started taking yoga classes there, and was like, “Should we do MOVES again and just do it there?" And I was like, "Fuck it. Yeah, let's do it." Because our friends had been asking for it again.
But I was working as Marc Jacobs' private chef at the time, so I couldn’t do it during the day. I had to do it at night - so we started doing that. I think it was 8 to 9:30 - we started doing it there, and then the Sky Ting crew started coming down, you know, they are all dancers or former dancers. It was really because of the Sky Ting community that it grew - people started to hear about it and we avoided Instagram for a long time. We would post on our own accounts but you couldn’t really find us.
Then COVID hit, and we were like, okay we have to do this. So that’s when it grew out into the world.
M: I love how far that goes back. Are you still running from that same building? Sky Ting moved, didn’t it?
L: Yeah, none of us are there anymore - Sky Ting moved to Lafayette between Bleecker and Houston. It's super beautiful. We teach all over now, mostly at Gibney Studios downtown. We just had a class at Martha Graham Studios which is in Westbeth in Greenwich Village and it was so next level - they’re iconic.
M: That sounds like quite a big deal - I feel like I should know who that is!
L: Martha Graham is huge - I mean, she's one of the most famous contemporary choreographers and their company is a big deal. They’ve been a staple of the New York dance community forever - it was founded in 1926.
M: Ok, that’s massive! Congratulations. It’s the big MOVES takeover. I love it. Ok, so you’ve had all these elements of your career - from being a private chef, to moving into a more culinary art space with individuals but also brands. Everything I’ve seen you work on seems to really have that through-line of sensuality - whether that’s food, abundance, joy, movement, embodiment. This has always been so inspiring to me.
Has it always been this way for you? And have you always thought about sensuality as a specific, intentional thing to connect with?
L: Yeah, for sure. I've always had a very very deep connection to my body, the shape of the human form and all the things that we're capable of. I mean, both my parents are creatives - my Dad's an artist and my Mum was an athlete and a creative in her own right. And I think the sensuality of life was very present for me.
There has never been a time where I didn’t have that connectivity to what I was doing. As matter of fact, the times when I’ve felt most disconnected is when I was trying to have a ‘normal’ or desk job. I think after trying something like that, it was a very clear moment for me, that I needed to stay connected to doing and creating - I love doing things with my hands, being physical and having that connection. So yes - sensuality has always been a through line - actually I would say it’s more of a driving force for me, an experiential high. I’m the kind of person that wakes up happy - that’s how I roll, that’s how it’s always been.
M: It’s funny, because I was thinking about this last night and one of my questions for you was going to be what the driving force in your life was - you’ve taken the words out of my mouth. I’m so interested in how your upbringing in your family context has impacted this - the idea of creativity in your daily life and how this intertwines with an appreciation of sensuality.
L: If I think about Marisa and I, we’re both people who like to make beautiful spaces and live in them. We go to the farmers market and cook for ourselves; there’s always music playing. I grew up with beauty around me, I was surrounded by various extremes that I now realise were not comparatively normal but were very normal to me. So those expectations were set: this is how I want to live.
My husband Daniel and I were at a birthday party the other night for his Mum and I was sitting next to one of her friends who is in her 70’s and (people love to talk to me about food, and they tell me everything, like the randomest things or just like how they eat, what they eat, how they grocery shop etc) she was telling me, “Oh, I go to the grocery store and I buy these prepared meals and they're great and I wish I would cook for myself, but like who's just going to cook if you’re only cooking for one person?” and then she paused and looked at me and I was like, “You’re talking to the wrong person about this because I don’t agree with you.” Like, I think that everyone should go to the supermarket and go to farmers market if they can, and only buy what they're in the mood for and make simple delicious things just for themselves just to enjoy.
It’s something my husband and I get into altercations about. I don't believe in eating or shopping for convenience. I like to go places. I like to have the experience. I want specific things from specific locations and vendors - we don't have that in America so much. Here in New York, yes, it's more common, but even so, people are just like, "Oh, I'm so hungry. I need to eat now." And this place is here so I’ll have whatever.
I just don't roll that way. I don't eat until I'm hungry, and when I'm hungry, I think about what I'm actually in the mood for, and I go out there and make it - it can be as simple as scrambled eggs, you know, but I believe in that - in the sensuality of life and curating that in the smallest way, which ultimately can be the biggest way.
M: I so feel that. To me peak sensuality is garlic sizzling in oil in a pan…
L: The perfume.
M: It’s just so delicious, the sound and the smell, and such a moment. I’m a real cook-at-home person, and go less for convenience. Having breakfast is really important. It’s funny because I’ve been in this launch mode with Underlena and honestly, chaos mode. So I’ve been having this protein powder quickly in the morning and it’s so…grim.
L: Yes, you should be going to the opposite side of the spectrum and be like, today I’ll start my day with a delicious croissant followed by some yoghurt and fruit and oatmeal, you know.
M: Yes! I’m usually a massive beans for breakfast gal - garlic, beans, greens and an egg on top, I should be leaning in that direction, I know.
L: She’s a savoury girly, I see.
M: Yes! So that’s why it’s so weird, I’m like glugging this drink and wondering what I’m doing with my life. There’s no…juice in it. I think it can set you up in a different way where you take just a little more time and lean into the lush nature of life.
L: Yeah. It’s easier than people think. And I think that there's so many luxuries that many of us are afforded and I can speak for myself there. My cups runneth over with gratitude for all that I have around me. And I think that it would be a shame not to thrive in that. You know, the strive to thrive is real.
M: And what about your environment in all of that? Some people feel like you need to disconnect from your usual space to connect with yourself, you know, get out of the city or whatever.
L: I think you should find a place that you're drawn to and the environment that you feel suits your temperament and your nervous system, and that is totally independent and unique for everyone. I think if you're living in a city and it doesn't feel good for you, then you should get the fuck out of there, you know?
For me personally, being in New York is incredible. I mean, I really love how it seems like there's so much potential here and the possibilities are very fast moving and present themselves at rapid fire from a variety of directions. That's why I like being in a big city like New York because I do feel like I'm able to unveil and explore a lot of different avenues of sensuality. The exposure to the diverse population, the places to discover, there’s something for everyone. I’ve been here 24 years and there are still places and things that I experience that feel new. I thrive in that sort of energy. I vibrate on the same frequency.
I like the fact that I can wake up in the morning and walk my dog to the water, then ride my bike up to the farmers market, then go to a dance class and then have a site visit and cook dinner in a beautiful apartment. That to me is really the coolest way to exist. Of course I like leaving and being in spaces that are more, say, subdued, but you know.
M: Yes, I can relate to that. Ok. Before I leave you to your summer evening, I wanted to know… what is your favourite sense?
L: Oh, that’s just not really a fair question. I mean I love all the senses! But I would probably go hard on the sense of smell. I think, if I had to, (which is a terrible thought because, they're all amazing) the sense of smell to me is probably the strongest sense because it also affects your taste and it’s so associated with how I think about time, place, love and people. You know, how you feel a memory through the sense of smell the most.
M: Yes, I love how you can smell something specific and boom, you’re back in that moment from 15 years ago with that person, that experience, that feeling. I find that super wild.
L: I think through the sense of smell, you get to keep all the other senses.
M: Ok, ok. So it’s a cheat then, that’s fine! There’s something else that I’ve been thinking about then I’ll leave you! I’ve been considering our relationship with sensuality and age; my Mum was one of the models in our campaign shoot, and she’s always been such a vital, sensual being so is a massive inspiration for me. So, with this in mind, I wanted to ask if your experience of sensuality has changed as you’ve gotten older?
L: Oh yeah, like so much better. Like I said, I've always been someone who has really lived life through the senses. But I think that in terms of sensuality, the way I feel about it now is just very limitless.
I am able to truly recognize, witness, harness the growth that exists in all of us; of sensuality. And I really think for women specifically, I've bared witness especially in the past month to like remarkable storytelling of women who are 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 years older than myself, who are telling a story that I can feel and know and recognize - the fact that they are richer and better off because of their time, because of their age, because of their growth and their experiences. It just makes them more sexy and attuned. I think we get better.
Unfortunately, I think that there's a lot more scrutiny on our visual representation of aging, but I think the more that women continue to love and adore each other of all generations and specifically cross-generational, then I think that we can really unleash this exquisite matrix that just gets more and more complex the older we get.
M: It’s so powerful when you have older women in your life that have so much more experience or just breadth of life and want to see you thrive as well.
L: Yeah. It’s a mutual respect thing because you know that you want to attain the knowledge of someone older. But as an older woman, it's also really important to be free and willing to share without sounding preachy or downtrodden. You know, there can be that mentality of ‘enjoy it while it lasts,’ but then when you meet those powerful women, they’re like, join us - the good part’s only just begun.
M: Yes! God I love that. I’m going to leave it there - what a powerful way to end that. Lauren, thank you so much for this, I’m just so thrilled to have spoken to you.
L: Thank you!
Obsessed like I am? You can follow Lauren on Instagram here and find MOVES here. You can also shop our Underlena bottoms, worn by Lauren, here. If you enjoyed this conversation, allow me to suggest some other explorations from Notes on Sensuality to set you on your way:
The Sensual Revolution: The Scent of June by Macy Andres
The Kitchen #01: A recipe for the senses with Stacey O
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Those COVID moments on IG live—I lived for those days. So beautiful, such a special conversation x