Laura Baller Mahler: the Art of teaching and the activism of Joy

Imagine your favorite teacher you ever had. What were they like? Silly? Funny? Creative? Downright wild? Could you talk to them about anything? Did they give you opportunities of which you never before dreamed? How did they make learning fun in a day otherwise chock-full of curriculum, silence, and stillness?

If you can’t think of anyone, let me introduce you to my friend, Laura (Baller) Mahler.

I met Laura when she choreographed Black Dirt Theatre’s Annie! several years ago in Hastings, MN. I was 22 or 23, freshly graduated and living in strict alignment with the professional stoicism of private university training, and was dragging my feet to even see the fun in doing theatre anymore. And then I met Laura! I’ve never told her this, but she really changed my perspective on what it means to be an artist AND a professional. I mean, have you ever worked with someone who put a Z everywhere there was meant to be an S, and never overthought about how many exclamation points she sent in that email? That’s her! Laura is full of joy and light and self-love in a way I truly admire, and as an artist, I felt it my obligation — nay, an honor! — to share her story with you.

The theatre teacher at FAIR School Crystal Campus, Laura is on her way to grad school to get her Master’s in education at the University of Minnesota, and she is absolutely killing the game we call life every step along the way. I asked her how she got started in education and the arts, and it turns out, some people really are just born with it. She’s from an art-centered family, who alongside her brothers, used song, dance and storytelling to shape their relationship with each other and their community. From being selected for a creativity study in 8th grade to her first internship with an educational arts director, Laura has lived, worked, and thrived in the creative realm, particularly through theatre and dance.

“The performing arts have been my lens with which I navigate myself thru the world my whole life,” Laura wrote. “It consumes my mind body and spirit. It holds me accountable to my own identity and is a forever challenge to continue to grow and develop new skillz.”

Like every young theatre person ever, Laura wished to move to LA and pursue the life of an actor. When I asked her to elaborate on that part of her path, I was so delighted to hear that she found a much greater purpose along the way in teaching. At one of her first jobs as the theatre teacher, she quickly discovered the way connecting arts and theatre education with culture, community and mental health resources can truly change lives for the better.

Laura told me the story of LACEZZ, a dance group composed of 7th-grade boys who changed her life. This was long before TikTok when YouTube ruled the internet, and these boys wanted a place to practice dance after school. Of course, she let them. Together they learned the Jerk and the Dougie and the kids made dance videos online. While these boys went on to do other things, this shifted Laura’s perspective in a big way: children respond to movement and music, storytelling and art, regardless of gender and whatever stereotypes stand against them.

It’s not that kids don’t want to perform: it’s that they are often not allowed the opportunity or space to pursue it.

“Expression allows kids the space to see themselves in a way that’s totally up to them instead of what the world tells them to be,” Laura said.

When children are only allowed to see one path laid out for them, they may have no choice but to follow it, whether that’s to become a doctor or to get into dealing drugs. Laura saw how having access to the arts brought a complete shift in the way children want to spend their time. This was particularly clear while working in marginalized communities where resources are restricted and arts budgets are the first to go. But those cuts to the budget, Laura said, means cutting opportunities to explore and experience imagination. It can be detrimental to the children’s minds, bodies, spirits — and their futures.

Not everyone is happiest in Math class or English, but performing arts opens a whole new door which bleeds into every other subject: CREATIVITY. The path of self-expression celebrates spontaneity and encourages you to listen to your intuition. Performance asks you to put yourself in another’s shoes, building empathy and sympathy for a life that is not your own. Kids learn better through play! Arts practices that allow them space to autonomously create also help them learn to be innovators of creative problem solving in a world that desperately needs it.

I asked Laura how she felt about being a teacher in times like these, and how arts education can impact the collective consciousness of our society. She had a lot to say regarding teacher shortages in the educational system. Many are not supported in necessary conversations and curriculum like CRT. Teachers are micromanaged, overworked, and underpaid. The bigger issue, Laura argues, is that humankind is asking for more than what teachers have the resources to do, but she goes on to say that those who believe and want it and are fighting for it will stay in the conversation. The world needs it. And the kids need someone in the room who knows how to dictate the value of these important conversations for their benefit. That’s why Laura’s in the education game for the long haul.

But kids aren’t the only ones who need the arts. “Imagination is a practice, not a hobby,” Laura said. Adults need imagination and creativity, too. We all need the space to express ourselves, know ourselves, and learn how to love one another. The arts are just one way to do that. A creative mindset can be built over time, regardless of age. Starting children on that path young can help our society flourish in a lot of ways, but the path we take as adults is ultimately up to ourselves. Laura has decided to help the next generation along the way.

“Theatre is a space where storiez are shared and I am committed to doing the work with marginalized communities to ensure their voices are represented in the greater narrative,” she wrote.

There is a lot which needs to change in society when it comes to uplifting voices and sharing all people’s stories for the betterment of all mankind, but it’s important to point out this one thing: When everything around us began to crumble the last few years, the world turned to artists. Books, movies, TV. Writers, dancers, performers, musicians, painters and designers were the first there for us in these trying times.

Why, then, do adults in our world, particularly the privileged ones in power, choose to devalue the very things that make us human? Laura said something deeply true: in a world that relies on numbers, the arts are immeasurable and therefore don’t count.

“Art should be accessible to all — not just for the privileged,” Laura stated.

There’s something floating around the internet about how it’s beautiful, in a sad way, that most rich kids will naturally gravitate toward the arts in life, because when your basic needs are met, you can think and do and be anything you want. Everyone’s an artist until rent is due, or so the meme says.

I can’t help but wonder: how many grown-ups these days never had the chance to be an artist as a kid? How many were too worried about helping their families survive to care about school? How many worked through trauma instead of imagination? I wonder if they would bring the most unique, creative things into the world if they had the freedom to pursue passions as a child. I also wonder how all our lives might be different if we took the chance to play and connect with our inner child today.

I asked Laura if she could give advice about how adults could learn from the lessons she’s passing on to the kids at school, and she said, “JUST TRY!“ There are so many art forms that don’t exist yet. Combining art forms in a way that can only come from your mind will change you and your world! But you have to be willing to try. Having a growth mindset is huge when it comes to a creative lifestyle! Instead of saying “I don’t know how to dance,” add a “YET!” on the end. That gives you the opportunity and room to try, learn, and GROW! Perspective is everything when it comes to the arts.

It’s easy to hear things people in authority tell you about how being an artist isn’t viable because you can’t make money at it. It’s easy, then, to give up, and to passively accept what you’ve been handed instead of using what power you have to change and create something new. Fear often stops us, but it’s important to remember something Laura expressed: nothing you do is a waste of time if you learned from it.

She said, “Being an artist is heroic.”

In a world that tells you to sit down, be quiet, and do what you’re told, it is indeed heroic to lead by example and be an artist. The way Laura is out there, teaching children to do what they believe in, even if nobody else gets it, and to use their voice, even if it shakes, well. That’s truly magic. Sure, you can use art as a form of activism (artivism) to be antagonistic, to shift the status quo, break down the patriarchy, and stick it to the man. Creativity itself is an act of defiance.

But there is real, profound value in simply seeking joy. And Laura says it is a necessary ingredient to doing this kind of work.

This, I think, is what truly shifted my perspective when I met Laura all those years ago. She wrote to me, “Well u can’t do a PLAY without some PLAY, amiright?!” and I laughed at my own self-importance. Because, truly, what are we here for, if not to bring more light, laughter, and fun to the world?

Naturally, then, I asked her what she does for fun, and she told me about her experience with North Star Roller Derby (and she’s skating this summer with the St. Paul Saints). The physicality of skating, she said, also informs the way she takes on acting: She’s currently starring on stage all summer as Ursula in The Little Mermaid Jr at Stages Theatre, which runs through August.

Acting, then, informs how she takes on teaching. The cycle of life, the cycle of art, is a spiral, and always moving.

Everything you do gives purpose, Laura argues, and she asks you to consider how you give back and connect with each aspect of your life and your self. When you identify with your experiences in an introspective and spiritual way, outside of outer material reasons, your whole perspective shifts.

If you are a teacher, I am grateful for you. If you are out there engaging with young people and shifting perspectives, I admire you so much. There’s an old saying about how wise men plant trees whose shade they’ll never sit in. That’s how I view arts education, and I daresay Laura would agree — the world needs a new forest of creative spirits to sprout from the mycelium of the crazy undergrowth we call life, to start fresh and breathe new energy into everything we do together on this planet.

You don’t have to be a child to think like an artist: you need only find joy, find a creative path, and let yourself explore your imagination unencumbered by ideas of what you’re supposed to be. Just try. Follow Laura’s example: Dance, move, skate, sing, act, laugh, and let yourself be free.

Find joy, make art, connect with your community, and Keep growing!

If you want to get in touch with Laura about theatre, education, skating, or arts, she says, and I quote, “Yas be my frand on social media!” So here you go, pals, and I encourage you to give her a follow for all the smiles, bright colors, and joy of life one artist can bring:

TikTok: @ballermahler
Instagram: @ballermahler
Facebook: Laura Baller Mahler
Email: laura.mahler@gmail.com