About

Sarah is a movement and teaching artist based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She is passionate about presence and aliveness while performing, and seeks to perform works that center humanity and complexity. While she is invested in subtlety and nuance, she is a notably bold and expressive performer, using her theatrical and compositional intuition to inform her dynamic yet grounded choice making.

She is a company member with ARENA DANCES, which is in its second season as a contemporary repertory company. Sarah is thrilled to work with the incredible company dancers, and is delighted by the push of immersive residency periods and experimental approaches by the variety of choreographers. Described as a chameleonic artist, the challenge of holding multiple distinct worlds and transforming between them is a thrill for her. Sarah continues to freelance: you can catch her in Annika Johansson’s site-specific improvisational study Composition on a Hill and in Choreographer’s Evening at Walker Art Center (appearing in Mathew Janczewski and Anna Pinault’s works.)

Having navigated years in the rollercoaster of uncertainty that is freelancing, feeling as though there is little control over the trajectory and artistic range of her career, she came to the question — “how can I sustainably embody the work I want?” In an effort to cultivate agency, longevity, and desire in her career, Sarah is beginning to curate a body of solo work, commissioning choreographers to collaborate on new or existing solos. Cluck, a tenderly absurd solo by Shannon Hummel/Cora Dance, is the first in this curation. Since commissioning Cluck in 2025, Sarah has performed the solo in Minneapolis and San Francisco. Stay tuned for more solos as this body of work grows!

She is passionate and curious about the dancer’s participation and agency in the creative process. She is now the resident dramaturg for Amez Dance and occasionally offers rehearsal direction for other choreographers on a project-to-project basis. In this role, Sarah is committed to deepening the dancer’s connection to the work, and to help bridge the gap between the choreographer’s desires and the performers’ understanding and execution. Contact her if you are interested in her services as a dramaturg or rehearsal director!

Originally from Virginia, Sarah began her dance training at Seven Hills Dance Studio. She then earned her B.A. as a double major in Dance and Mathematics at James Madison University. While studying performance, choreography, and mathematical theory, she toured with the Virginia Repertory Dance Company, JMU's pre-professional performance company, from 2016-2018. In 2016, Sarah spent the summer of 2016 studying contemporary dance in London. She returned to England in 2018 to perform and teach with the Virginia Repertory Dance Company. As a senior, she was selected to serve as the co-director of the Associate Dance Ensemble, JMU's performance ensemble of freshmen dance majors. At the time of her graduation in 2018, she was awarded the School of Theatre and Dance’s “Performer of the Year” and was selected to perform “True Confessions: My Boyfriend, Mic”, a solo created in collaboration with Shane O’Hara, at the Richmond Dance Festival. That summer, she relocated to Minnesota to join the vibrant arts community of the Twin Cities. 

Since moving to MN, Sarah has joined Black Label Movement (company mover from 2019-2023) and ARENA DANCES on a number of performances. With these organizations, Sarah has performed in the greater MN area, FL, NYC, and AZ* (cancelled due to COVID-19). Primarily a freelance artist, she has had the pleasure of performing in a variety of works choreographed by Alexandra Bodnarchuk, Annika Johansson, Berit Ahlgren, Carl Flink, Helen Hatch, Marisol Herling, Mathew Janczewski, Rachel Lieberman, Taja Will, Zoë Koenig, and more. Sarah seeks to foster a variety of lasting, fruitful, collaborative relationships with choreographers.

In addition to her work as a performer, Sarah is an established and sought after teaching artist. While she frequently offers advanced/professional level classes for Twin Cities dancers, she has also offered guest contemporary classes at university dance programs in Minnesota, Virginia, North Carolina, and England. She has been a guest teacher with DanceON, ARENA DANCES’ residency-based, dance education program, bringing an immersive, high quality dance education to Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools. During her time with Black Label Movement, she was in residence at the Performing Institute of Minnesota, where she offered classes to young theater and dance students. As a guest teacher, she has been invited to give workshops for the Limón/ Black Label Twin Cities Intensive, ARENA’s Instinct Summer Dance Intensive, District Four High School Dance Festival* (canceled due to COVID-19), high school dance teams, and studios through Minnesota, Virginia, and New York. 

Sarah seeks out vulnerable and honest dance experiences through performance, creation, and education. She is a highly collaborative artist and teacher. If you are interested in working with her, contact her here.