Current Offerings

Monday, 9:30-11:00 am — Intermediate Contemporary, Zenon Dance School

Saturday, 11:30-1:00 pm — Int/Adv Contemporary Movement Practice, Hothouse

Teaching History

Sarah’s initial interest in teaching began as a young dancer. Her teachers mentored her and offered her limitless guidance in pursuit of her career. She began teaching in studios throughout Virginia in high school and college. As a senior, she was selected to serve as the Co-Director of the Associate Dance Ensemble (JMU’s performance company for freshmen dance majors.) As Co-Director, she taught weekly contemporary technique classes, choreographed repertory, and became a mentor for over 20 young dance artists. In this role, she discovered that her teaching philosophy had little to with creating technically proficient dancers, but everything to do with giving dancers space to grow by connecting with their instinctual knowledge and experiment with risk taking in a supportive environment.

Upon graduation, Sarah relocated to Minnesota where she joined the staff at Velocity Dance and Theater. She specialized in contemporary, modern, jazz, and choreographed for their competition teams. While her choreography earned numerous overall placement’s and judge’s awards, she found fulfillment in creating pieces that challenged the young dancers to think differently about what contemporary dance can be. Her dancers gained agency and individuality by performing her work. In this pursuit, she was commissioned by Seven Hills Dance Studio in Lynchburg, VA to set a work on their premier contemporary team.

Sarah is well-integrated in several high school dance programs throughout Minnesota. As a member of Black Label Movement, she was a resident guest artist at the Performing Institute of Minnesota, where she offered guest classes to young dance and theater artists. She has been a guest teacher with DanceOn, ARENA DANCES’ high school residency program offering high-quality contemporary dance education to several public high school dance programs throughout the Twin Cities’ metro. She was invited as a teacher and panelist for Minnesota’s District Four High School Dance Festival* (canceled due to COVID-19) and is a recurring guest teacher for Chaska High School’s Dance Team. In addition to her work with high school students, Sarah has offered guest classes for pre-professional dancers at the University of Minnesota, North Carolina State University, and University of Winchester (UK).

Over the last few years, she has shifted her focus towards professional level instruction. She has given workshops at the Limón/ Black Label Twin Cities Intensive and the ARENA DANCES’ Instinct Summer intensive. She regularly offers open contemporary movement practice classes at The Arena, Zenon Dance School, and Hothouse.

Sarah is a sought-after guest teacher, offering workshops in contemporary, jazz, improvisation, partnering, and specialized workshops based on your dancers’ needs. She approaches all teaching opportunities with engagement and enthusiasm. If you are interested in having her work with your dance program, contact her here!