NJ Videographer Merges Dance Discipline with News Insight

A Story of Art, Music, and Empathy

In the first 10 seconds of her unforgettable video “N.J. tattoo artist transforms mastectomy scars into remarkable art,” videographer Lauren Raposa grips you instantly. A soft, melancholy piano motif plays, its notes gently clashing with the buzzing of a tattoo machine. The camera lingers on the back of a blue-haired woman in thick-brimmed glasses, then shifts to another woman, reclining in a chair, topless. One breast is adorned with delicate, multicolored floral ink, emerging from beneath the pink gloves of the artist holding the needle. Each progressive piano note lands like a gentle tap on a healing heart.

For the next four minutes and 22 seconds, the music guides the viewer as if in a dance between the two subjects, the empathic Cranford-based tattooer with her atypical approach to her craft and her grateful client. “I wanted to handle that story with a lot of tenderness and care and respect,” Raposa, a videographer at NJ Advance Media, tells me. “I wanted the music to reflect that. I was looking for piano because I think that was sentimental. It worked really well to weave the entire piece together.”

A ‘Culmination of Everything’

For that video produced in 2024, Raposa earned her very first New York Emmy Award at this year’s ceremony. Her statuette is one of five NJ Advance Media took home that Oct. 11 night, the most the newsroom has won in a single year. It adds to the 28 Emmys our video team has won since 2010, competing against traditional television giants such as ABC, NBC, CBS and Telemundo.

Along with thanking her longtime partner, Eric, and her family for their support, Raposa acknowledged in her acceptance speech at the awards gala she’s part of a stellar team that has allowed her to grow since she joined the newsroom in 2022. “This is a culmination of everything that the team has taught me since I started,” she tells me days after the awards show.

Following Life’s Rhythm

While journalism became her career path, music and movement were always an essential part of her life. Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago with her older sister, Dena, her world revolved around the dance studio. Her parents Chris, a town administrative assistant, and Joe Raposa, a retired systems architect, enrolled her in a ballet class at age 7 after she showed interest in the art form. Over the years, she whirled through ballet, modern and contemporary. They never missed any of her recitals or competitions, she says.

Her family’s move to Hunterdon County in 2014 just after she graduated early from high school changed everything — not her love of dance, though. Once in New Jersey, she auditioned for a spot at the Mason Gross School of the Arts with dreams of becoming a professional dancer. Then reality hit: dancers retire very young. She pivoted to journalism, graduating from Rutgers in 2018.

“While my parents were sad to see me leave Mason Gross, I think they knew there were exciting things on the horizon for me,” she says. “They’ve only ever wanted me to be happy.”

Now 29, Raposa lives in Bloomingdale, a quiet corner of Passaic County, with her partner Eric. They have been together for a decade, including more than four years of long-distance before she landed her first big job at MSNBC. “It was a now-or-never moment. Eric made a big sacrifice and moved his life to be with me,” she says. “I know I’m biased, but he’s great!”

From Dance Studio to Film Studio

Despite establishing herself as an award-winning videographer for New Jersey’s largest news outlet, dance remains a significant part of who she is. Discipline, she says, is the biggest thing she’s brought out of the dance studio. “When I think of being disciplined in my work today, I think about what’s the best piece that I can create with the time that I have,” she explains.

For The News Pulse, she says she’s a one-woman band — writing the script, getting the interviews, shooting, editing, doing the modifications required to get it just right. “I need to make sure that I have full responsibility over all of these pieces of the puzzle, and I’m giving it my all throughout each one,” says Raposa, who danced with a few companies after college, including Continuum Dance Co., Breath Dance Project and Extensions Dance Project.

Storytelling in Motion

Raposa also sees a clear connection between dance and video journalism. “Dance has a visual storytelling aspect to it,” she says. “I try to put it into little bits and pieces of video.” For her, storytelling is deeply personal with music playing a significant role in her editing process. Music comes first, she’ll tell you, everything else follows. “If you watch my videos, you’ll notice the rhythm and musicality in the shots.”

She chooses the song first from a digital library of stock music, she says, then visuals and effects. “I know that different producers have different methods to their madness — music is mine,” she confesses.

Rolling into New Stories

You could say she might have followed her happy feet to a related passion. When COVID-19 shut everything down five years ago, Raposa rediscovered the joy of roller skating. “I grew up going to rinks for birthday parties but didn’t really skate until the pandemic,” she says. With rinks closed, she practiced on outdoor courts. When they reopened, she learned jam moves, joining a vibrant community. “I’ve made lifelong friends,” she says. That passion even made its way into her work, filming a video about the Black roller-skating community at Branch Brook Park in Newark. “I skated with my camera, got close-ups of footwork and people arm-in-arm. Because I skate, I got great shots.”

That video won first place in the Narrative Video category at the Society of Features Journalists.

The Beauty of Perspective

Whether on wheels or behind the lens, Raposa’s storytelling is rooted in empathy — a quality that shines in her collaboration with The News Pulse and Star-Ledger reporter Brianna Kudisch. In addition to the breast-tattoo artist story, the two have collaborated on other projects, including “Neon artists grapple with industry’s uncertain future in N.J.” and “Portraits of Hope.”

“Reporter/videographer collaborations are one of the best parts of my job. I’ve worked with a handful of reporters on projects over the years,” she says. The neon signs video was nominated for an Emmy last year and the portraits piece was published in the final Star-Ledger print edition.

“Our colleague Larry Higgs said it best — our job is cool because we get to do things others can’t,” she says. “I don’t take that for granted. I love telling people’s stories and giving them a voice. It’s the most rewarding thing.”