Passionate about dance teaching and the education of dance teachers, Laurel has had significant influence on the Australian dance world.
She was the first woman to be accepted into Vic-Wells Ballet (later Sadler’s Wells Ballet) in 1936, and soon she was a featured soloist. She danced with Borovansky for five years, before establishing the Ballet Victoria Guild, (later the Victorian Ballet Company and then Ballet Victoria). She established a school to work alongside the company and for which she created many original works, often collaborating with Australian composers and designers. In her later years, Laurel continued to feature as a guest artist with The Australian Ballet.