Sarah Swenson in To Borrow Salt, a collaboration with Simone Forti, Terence Luke Johnson, and Douglas Wadle.
Photo by Ann Marie Rounkle, ©The Box Gallery Los Angeles
Photo by Ann Marie Rounkle, ©The Box Gallery Los Angeles
BIOGRAPHY
"Sarah Swenson...a passionate caring for humankind is her artistic motive force." Simone Forti
Sarah Swenson is a hybrid American choreographer, and works from a fusion of pioneering and post-modern dance techniques, theatre, and improvisation. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of Vox Dance Theatre of Los Angeles, a company of women. Using a wide range of musical sources and sound that often includes live music, Swenson’s diverse humanist repertoire "transcends gender and age" (Debbie Devine), offering audiences a rich, entrancing experience. Her signature work, Fimmine (Women), which premiered at the Toronto International Dance Festival, is the centerpiece of her modernist repertoire.
Since 1998, Sarah has been working with two of America's post-modern treasures: Simone Forti and Rudy Perez. With Forti, she joined performance artist Luke Johnson and musician/composer Douglas Wadle, to collaborate on five evening length works, performing together as The Sleeves. Their anthology, Unbuttoned Sleeves, was published by Beyond Baroque in 2006, and edited by Fred Dewey. In 2012 Sarah became a principal stager, and later, the International Performance Coordinator of Simone's seminal 1960's oeuvre, Dance Constructions, acquired by MoMA in 2015. In 2021 she authored At Work With The Dance Constructions, published by National Gallery Singapore. Sarah is a member of the Rudy Perez Performance Ensemble, and performed repertoire and new creations throughout the Los Angeles area, and stages Perez work.
Sarah is joyfully committed to the values of classical and postmodern dance, and its accessibility by contemporary modern dancers of all abilities. As a modernist choreographer, she is known for her compelling use of visual counterpoint, marrying modern dance classicism with a variety of musical forms and traditions. Her deep appreciation and love of music has launched much of her repertoire, as has her multi-ethnic heritage. Her works are often crafted and steeped in the feminine experience, yet evoke imagery and environments that resonate universally. Sarah has adapted much of her professional repertoire for teens, and created several works specifically for youth.
Recent commissions include Plectra & Percussion Dances (2022) for the Partch Ensemble, Fire Within (2017), for the 20th Anniversary of Vox Femina Los Angeles women's choir, and Clamor (2015), for Dancing Wheels Company of Cleveland in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Her choreography has been produced at The Los Angeles Music Center; The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles; The Los Angeles Dance Festival; Instituto de Cultura de Baja California, Mexico; The Toronto International Dance Festival; Conservatoire de danse de Bagnolet, Paris; Le Gallerie Civiche di Palazzo Ducale, Pavullo nel Frignano, Italy; Palazzo Baronale di Monteroni di Lecce, Italy; FucinAsud Associazione Culturale, Salice Salentino, Italy; Alto Jonio Dance Festival, Calabria, Italy; The Piccolo Spoleto Festival; The Alvin Ailey School, and The Trudl Zipper Dance Institute at The Colburn School, Los Angeles. She is currently collaborating with Italian composers Alessandro Girasoli, Enzo Fina and Roberto Catalano; New Zealand Arts Laureate, John Psathas; and Carl Stone of Tokyo and Los Angeles.
Sarah received her early training at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, later studying at The Alvin Ailey School in New York City, where she was a soloist as well as Rehearsal Director of Ailey III for more than a decade. She taught Horton, Repertory & Performance, Barre-a-terre/ballet, and Pilates in Ailey's Professional and Junior divisions, Horton for Actors at The Actor's Studio, the Professional Performing Arts School, and the New Visions Dance Project, a dance and music class for visually impaired adults. A professional repertory and movement coach, she annually rehearsed selected Ailey students in Ailey’s beloved Memoria. She was on the faculty of AileyCamp/Baltimore for three years, and also taught at Ballet Hispanico. Other professional credits include Kevin Iega Jeff and Artists of Jubilation!, the Louis Johnson Dance Theater Ensemble, Melinda Ring, and Chun Myung Sook Dance Company with whom she toured the People's Republic of China. She was also Associate Artistic Director of Seraphim Dance Theater, co-founded with her dance partner, the late Raymond C. Harris.
In 2000 she choreographed Euridice for the Long Beach Opera.
A recognized 4th generation teacher of the Lester Horton Dance Technique, Sarah currently teaches technique and performance skills to all ages from children age 7 through professionals, and lay adults. She has taught at The Alvin Ailey School; Ballet Hispanico; California State University/Long Beach; California State University/Fullerton; Loyola Marymount University; Cerritos College; Missouri Valley College; Orange County High School of the Arts; Irvine Valley College; Conservatoire de danse de Bagnolet, Paris; La Manufacture, Aurillac, France; and The Beijing Dance Academy, China, among others.
Sarah received her MFA in Performance and Choreography in 2000 from California State University/Long Beach, where she was the recipient of The Graduate Dean's List Award of University Artists and Scholars, awarded to the top 1% of graduate students. She was later Chair of the Performing Arts Division of Missouri Valley College, and is the former Director of Dance Education at The Wooden Floor of Santa Ana, a groundbreaking after-school dance program for low-income youth, whose innovative approach has become a national model. She was most recently Chair of Modern Dance for The Trudl Zipper Dance Institute at The Colburn School, Los Angeles.
Sarah works as a Director and coordinator for ON DISPLAY Global, the revolutionary movement installation created by choreographer Heidi Latsky, being presented worldwide in conjunction with the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
Sarah was born in Boston, and is the daughter of activist Norma Meras Swenson, co-founder and co-author of Our Bodies, Ourselves, and the Boston Women's Health Book Collective.
Sarah Swenson is a hybrid American choreographer, and works from a fusion of pioneering and post-modern dance techniques, theatre, and improvisation. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of Vox Dance Theatre of Los Angeles, a company of women. Using a wide range of musical sources and sound that often includes live music, Swenson’s diverse humanist repertoire "transcends gender and age" (Debbie Devine), offering audiences a rich, entrancing experience. Her signature work, Fimmine (Women), which premiered at the Toronto International Dance Festival, is the centerpiece of her modernist repertoire.
Since 1998, Sarah has been working with two of America's post-modern treasures: Simone Forti and Rudy Perez. With Forti, she joined performance artist Luke Johnson and musician/composer Douglas Wadle, to collaborate on five evening length works, performing together as The Sleeves. Their anthology, Unbuttoned Sleeves, was published by Beyond Baroque in 2006, and edited by Fred Dewey. In 2012 Sarah became a principal stager, and later, the International Performance Coordinator of Simone's seminal 1960's oeuvre, Dance Constructions, acquired by MoMA in 2015. In 2021 she authored At Work With The Dance Constructions, published by National Gallery Singapore. Sarah is a member of the Rudy Perez Performance Ensemble, and performed repertoire and new creations throughout the Los Angeles area, and stages Perez work.
Sarah is joyfully committed to the values of classical and postmodern dance, and its accessibility by contemporary modern dancers of all abilities. As a modernist choreographer, she is known for her compelling use of visual counterpoint, marrying modern dance classicism with a variety of musical forms and traditions. Her deep appreciation and love of music has launched much of her repertoire, as has her multi-ethnic heritage. Her works are often crafted and steeped in the feminine experience, yet evoke imagery and environments that resonate universally. Sarah has adapted much of her professional repertoire for teens, and created several works specifically for youth.
Recent commissions include Plectra & Percussion Dances (2022) for the Partch Ensemble, Fire Within (2017), for the 20th Anniversary of Vox Femina Los Angeles women's choir, and Clamor (2015), for Dancing Wheels Company of Cleveland in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Her choreography has been produced at The Los Angeles Music Center; The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles; The Los Angeles Dance Festival; Instituto de Cultura de Baja California, Mexico; The Toronto International Dance Festival; Conservatoire de danse de Bagnolet, Paris; Le Gallerie Civiche di Palazzo Ducale, Pavullo nel Frignano, Italy; Palazzo Baronale di Monteroni di Lecce, Italy; FucinAsud Associazione Culturale, Salice Salentino, Italy; Alto Jonio Dance Festival, Calabria, Italy; The Piccolo Spoleto Festival; The Alvin Ailey School, and The Trudl Zipper Dance Institute at The Colburn School, Los Angeles. She is currently collaborating with Italian composers Alessandro Girasoli, Enzo Fina and Roberto Catalano; New Zealand Arts Laureate, John Psathas; and Carl Stone of Tokyo and Los Angeles.
Sarah received her early training at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, later studying at The Alvin Ailey School in New York City, where she was a soloist as well as Rehearsal Director of Ailey III for more than a decade. She taught Horton, Repertory & Performance, Barre-a-terre/ballet, and Pilates in Ailey's Professional and Junior divisions, Horton for Actors at The Actor's Studio, the Professional Performing Arts School, and the New Visions Dance Project, a dance and music class for visually impaired adults. A professional repertory and movement coach, she annually rehearsed selected Ailey students in Ailey’s beloved Memoria. She was on the faculty of AileyCamp/Baltimore for three years, and also taught at Ballet Hispanico. Other professional credits include Kevin Iega Jeff and Artists of Jubilation!, the Louis Johnson Dance Theater Ensemble, Melinda Ring, and Chun Myung Sook Dance Company with whom she toured the People's Republic of China. She was also Associate Artistic Director of Seraphim Dance Theater, co-founded with her dance partner, the late Raymond C. Harris.
In 2000 she choreographed Euridice for the Long Beach Opera.
A recognized 4th generation teacher of the Lester Horton Dance Technique, Sarah currently teaches technique and performance skills to all ages from children age 7 through professionals, and lay adults. She has taught at The Alvin Ailey School; Ballet Hispanico; California State University/Long Beach; California State University/Fullerton; Loyola Marymount University; Cerritos College; Missouri Valley College; Orange County High School of the Arts; Irvine Valley College; Conservatoire de danse de Bagnolet, Paris; La Manufacture, Aurillac, France; and The Beijing Dance Academy, China, among others.
Sarah received her MFA in Performance and Choreography in 2000 from California State University/Long Beach, where she was the recipient of The Graduate Dean's List Award of University Artists and Scholars, awarded to the top 1% of graduate students. She was later Chair of the Performing Arts Division of Missouri Valley College, and is the former Director of Dance Education at The Wooden Floor of Santa Ana, a groundbreaking after-school dance program for low-income youth, whose innovative approach has become a national model. She was most recently Chair of Modern Dance for The Trudl Zipper Dance Institute at The Colburn School, Los Angeles.
Sarah works as a Director and coordinator for ON DISPLAY Global, the revolutionary movement installation created by choreographer Heidi Latsky, being presented worldwide in conjunction with the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
Sarah was born in Boston, and is the daughter of activist Norma Meras Swenson, co-founder and co-author of Our Bodies, Ourselves, and the Boston Women's Health Book Collective.
Fimmine, “…deeply moving…a magical work…”
~Michael Menegon, Artistic Director, Toronto International Dance Festival
"...transcends gender and age...." ~ Debbie Devine, 24th Street Theatre
~Michael Menegon, Artistic Director, Toronto International Dance Festival
"...transcends gender and age...." ~ Debbie Devine, 24th Street Theatre