QQ. What are some of the recent projects that you've been working on?
A. Lately I've been doing a lot of "Glee" the past couple of months and then I just finished a dance convention that I teach at and it was like a thirty city tour. It was pretty much every weekend since November, which was really challenging because you're gone Friday morning through early Sunday, and you get back in town and you have to jump right into a week full of stuff and then go right back out of town. You're living in suitcases and you're going from one suitcase to the next. It's also so much fun because we teach like a thousand kids a weekend so it's a lot of people that you get to touch. I've been doing that lately and I was assisting with a project with Tabitha and Napoleon, who are choreographers on "So You Think You Can Dance," and they were revamping the Elvis Cirque show that just came out in Vegas. It was a last minute thing right before the opening, like a month before the opening. The main Cirque people really wanted some new choreography and a new feeling. I was in Vegas for like a good month redoing the show and that was really cool because it was on the spot and there was so much to do from having twenty-four dancers, twenty-four acrobats, stage, pyro, lights, music, and all of this stuff. It would be like Tabitha and Napoleon sitting in back directing and their three assistants and I would have to run up on the set and teach choreography. It was a lot of freedom with being on the spot and getting the job done. That was a really cool experience to be a part of.
Q. You'll soon be seen again in Vocal Adrenaline on the show "Glee," how did you get involved in the show?
A. It was an audition that I went on. I started in the pilot and that was 2008 when we auditioned. When I got on set the first time one of the creators came up to me and said that he was a huge fan of mine from "So You Think You Can Dance." I don't know if he was the one who chose me or what. I have a really funny story from that shoot, it was the pilot, and it was before they got really smart and realized that we don't really necessarily have to choreograph a five minute dance number because there is only going to be a minute or a minute and a half that's going to be played. They started us with a five minute number that you're on set doing maybe twenty times or whatever it may be. My costume was really small, they had run out of the size that I needed, and they gave me a really, really small one. I couldn't breath and I actually got so sick that I had to run off set a couple of times and I actually was throwing up. In the middle of shooting this crazy number I was running off and throwing up. The funny part is that another girl hurt her neck and had to go to the hospital. A couple of weeks later I get called in for another episode and the whole theme about the episode was how this girl was bulimic and she was throwing up and this other girl got whiplash and she had this neck brace on. They actually wrote our story into the script, it was really sad.
Q. Are there any "Glee" cast members that you've become friendly with from appearing on the show?
A. The girl who plays Brittany on the show, Heather Morris, we actually grew up together in Arizona and went to the same high school together. I've known her for forever and we were at two different dance studios. She's a year older than I am and we were these funky, crazy people, and I looked up to her so much, and I was completely addicted to her energy. We were at rival dance studios but we kind of brought everyone together and nixed out all of that competition stuff. We had a blast growing up!
Q. Is there anything that you can divulge that will be happening with Vocal Adrenaline?
A. I don't want to give anything away, but I think there's going to be a lot more Vocal Adrenaline.
Q. So there may be room in season two for a return of Vocal Adrenaline?
A. I think we could be back, which I hope so, because I hope one day there is another character within Vocal Adrenaline that could be a little bit more prominent. I would love to act on the show, I'm hoping one day.
Q. You'll soon be seen on season seven of the show "So You Think You Can Dance," how did you get involve with return to the show?
A. I got a call about a month and a half ago and the first call came on a Friday. I got put on a call right away with five to ten other people on itl. I started recognizing the voices and realizing that they were all different past contestants from all different seasons. The producer that called us is like the main producer that we talk to. He said you need to be around on your phone on Monday morning at around noon. We had to go from Friday to Monday and I didn't get much sleep because I kind of had this feeling that something really big was going to happen. Monday came along and we had spent the whole weekend trying to figure out what was gong to happen. We were the first people that got word of it, choreographers didn't even know yet, it wasn't even a for sure deal yet. They needed to know if it was possible that we'd actually be interested in it before they could close the deal. They brought it up to us and the producers started off the conversation with all twelve of us with almost doing like a trivia game. They asked us all of these questions about different kinds of things that happened on all of the past seasons. The last one was how many contestants had ever been on the show. Someone called out a hundred and thirty-six and he said, "Out of a hundred and thirty contestants, we picked twelve people to be our All-stars." He said to all twelve of us that are doing it that we were their first pick. I had been such a fan of the show and what it's done for me as well as what it has done for everyone else.
Q. How are the pairings going to work?
A. We're not competing, we're kind of like the contestants mentors. It will always be one contestant along with one All-star that's been on the show before.
Q. Is there something in particular that made you want to return to the show?
A. Things happened in my life and everything comes in for a reason. It was really ironic at the time with the place I was at. I was in New York when I got the call and I was with my partner from season three Neil, who I hadn't seen in like a year, and there was also another person from my season named Cameron. I was with them and we'd go out and this was like the first time that I really, truly missed being on tour and having that dancer family there. We've been through so much with the show and they put you through so much that we really understand each other. I was really, really missing it and it was that week that I got the call. I just kind of knew I was at the right place at the right time and it felt right to do it. Anything that they would ever ask me to do I am down for because it's the most fun and different kind of experience that you can do.
Q. How you and your career evolved since your first appearance on the show?
A. I have changed a whole lot! When I came on the show I was eighteen years old and had just moved out to LA. I was living on my own and I had just moved away from Arizona. I was a young girl and I don't think I had that much life experience behind me. Being on the show the first time, it's like you say things and you do things that maybe you shouldn't do. You live and you learn, and even the past couple of years with being in relationships, I've learned things that you learn when you're growing up. I'm not that much older now, even with just three years more of life experience, it's going to be a totally different experience. I am going into it with a totally different attitude than when I was eighteen. I feel like everybody's changed from going on the tour afterwards and being back on the show. They asked me to do the choreography round for one of the past seasons. To be behind the scenes and see why they do things and why they challenge you so much, they really, really want to bring out the best potential in you, not just as a dancer but also as a human being. You realize that and you appreciate that. I've had a lot of different changes within so it's going to be totally different coming back this year.
Q. Is there a website or a place fans can go online to keep up with you and your career?
A. I have tons of people that write into my website. I'll open up an email, and it'll be a whole page worth of someone's life story, but I'm all for it. I think it's the teacher in me. I really enjoy people writing in and asking for advice on how they can make it. I'm totally all for that and my website is lauren-gottlieb.com.
Q. You're also on Twitter, what is it about being a part of that social networking site that is so important to you?
A. I'm a Twitter addict! I love to follow people and see where they are going and how they react to things. I have tons of people that write into me on Twitter and say that I inspire them just from my passion and drive. I don't have much down time, if I am not working on a day I am constantly creating or getting new choreography ready to teach a class, I am always on the go. I have lots of people that learn from me and say that they continue doing it and know that they can move to LA and make it too because of what I show them and the passion that I have for it. I enjoy that the most on Twitter, with people writing into me and with me writing back.
Q. What would you like to say to your fans and supporters?
A. Thank you for being a fan and for following my life. It is kind of crazy when I write things on Twitter that people actually respond to it and like to hear where I am at. It's a very surreal thing to think that others really love and care for what I do. I love that people write in and ask for advice or tell me that they are going towards something in their life. Maybe it's not even dance or acting, but the drive that I have that keeps them going towards what they are doing. I love that and I wish everyone continued success in what they're going for.
