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Liliana C. Price ’25 first discovered her love for dance in Louisville, her hometown in the heart of Kentucky. Blossoming out of her mother’s passion, Price stepped foot on stage at the early age of 3 and immediately fell in love with the art form. As Price grew older, her involvement only grew stronger. She experimented with different art forms and ultimately discovered various ways to use her body to express her inner emotions. You cannot describe Price without acknowledging the effort she’s put into dancing — they are inextricably bound.

“When I don’t really know what to do or my head gets too filled or I feel like I’m going to falter at any moment,” she said. “I go and I improv for a long time, and it’s exercise but it also just really helps me clear my head.

Dance has ultimately provided Price with a place to get to know herself, express her identity, and push herself.

Price was also put into dance classes at an early age and began competing before she was ten years old.

“I grew up kind of in the competition dance scene. So if you know ‘Dance Moms,’ that is the closest comparison I can make,” she said.

Price then started to dance with a pre-professional ballet program that provided her with the foundational technique that she needed to discover more ways to artistically articulate herself. Since Price lived in a part of Kentucky that did not have a large dance scene, she used to drive 20 to 30 minutes away from home for her practices.

Her determination, grit, ambition, and curiosity to learn shone through her story as she moved from ballet studios to contemporary-focused studios to find varieties of ways to unleash her inner personality.

“It was definitely a commitment and I really really loved the studio, the environment, and I had a really lovely mentor there that helped propel my movement and artistry beyond just technique. That was when I was first introduced to hip hop as well. Which, once I got to college, became something that I fell in love with too.”

As soon as Price arrived at Harvard, she jumped at the opportunity to once again become heavily involved with dance because it has always been a form of release, expression, and connection for her. As she wraps up her sophomore year of college, she has already become an integral part of the dance scene on campus. She is currently the executive director and producer for the Harvard Ballet and Expressions Dance Company.

“I’m really loving [this position], it has taught me so much about building space and community for people who haven’t been as lucky as I have to find dance so early in their life. I think it brings so much joy to so many people and it connects people and builds community.” Price added that being around people who are talented in these spaces has impacted her own dancing; “ My skill has grown immensely.”

On top of being in such important roles, she has also started her own dance company: the Harvard Contemporary Collective.

During Price’s freshman spring, she had a dream to build a modern contemporary community on campus. “I had tried Harvard Modern Dance Company and it just wasn’t necessarily for me,” she said. “I wanted a more fast-paced pre-professional type of environment for my personal training and I just didn’t see anything like that here.”

Determined to provide other students with that opportunity, Price found another sophomore and senior, Payton B. Thompson ’25 and Gianna O. Zades ’23 respectively, who immediately jumped at the opportunity. Over the summer between Price’s freshman spring and sophomore fall, the three of them planned tirelessly to develop a new dance troupe. When they returned to campus last fall, they launched the Harvard Contemporary Collective which has provided dancers the opportunity to come together and train with professionals.

“[This] has been the most amazing learning experience,” Price said. “I’ve been surrounded by really talented individuals moving in a way Harvard hasn’t seen before.”

The Collective’s presence on the dance floor is captivating, with their most recent number being choreographed by the founder and co-director of the Boston Dance Theater, Jessie Jeanne Stinnett. Tightly performed with the ability to convey emotions, the Harvard Contemporary Collective’s dance is striking, unique, and unforgettable. When Price steps foot on stage, she immediately draws cheers from the audience. She commands people’s gaze with every movement and the reaction from the crowd feeds off of her passion. As the Harvard Contemporary Collective completes their first full year as a company, it is clear that they will be going on to do great things in the future as a dance group.

“Dancing in Kentucky connected me with the few people that really loved their craft because you have to really love it to do it in a place where there are minimal opportunities,” Price said. “Also, it allowed me to learn the art of grit and perseverance which has allowed me to do what I do here. That, in addition to the lovely words of my parents, has allowed me to keep my dreams of professional dancing alive in a place that constantly tries to shoot them down.”

While being so influential to the dance community, Price continues to look up to the people who have shaped her into the ambitious, determined, and creative person that she is today. Grateful, gracious, and graceful, Liliana C. Price leaves fragments of her soul on every stage she steps foot on. As she moves onto her junior year of college, it is blatantly apparent that she has left a legacy to remember on the dance scene at Harvard.

—Staff writer JJ Moore can be reached at jj.moore@thecrimson.com.