Sarah Butler

Contemporary for Dancers

11.01. + 12.01.2025, 13:00–14:30
18.01. + 19.01.2025, 13:00–14:30

Training for Dancers

Bio

Sarah Butler likes making things. Working with movement, embroidery, poetry, film, wearable structure, and vocal harmonies, she is interested in exploring how the weaving of seemingly separate mediums can result in something surprising and honest.

Sarah was a founding member of Danielle Agami’s Ate9 Dance Company from 2012 – 2020. Since 2021 Sarah has worked closely with Tom Weinberger, assisting on the creation of dance-theatre works in and around Europe. She has guest taught, staged work, or assisted on creations with GöteborgsOperans DansKompani, Iceland Dance Company, Sasha Waltz & Guests, Bad Lemons / Jasmine Ellis Projects, Tanzfabrik Berlin, Nagelhus Schia Productions, Cornish College of the Arts, CalArts, John Hopkins University, and Ryan Heffington’s The Sweat Spot. She graduated from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA with a BFA in Dance.

In 2024 Sarah was commissioned by Wormfarm Institute & the Farm/Art DTour to create The Hayrake Ballet, a site specific performance working with local farmers, community members, and large-scale farm machinery in rural Wisconsin. Her first evening length solo performance work EILEEN, weaving together her movement, vocal, and wearable sculpture work, premiered in May 2024 at Jergon Gallery to two sold out shows. She is based in Berlin, Germany.

Class Description

This class will serve as an opportunity to dig into our approach to both improvised movement and codified form by working with and layering various physical tasks through curiosity, rich imagery, and sense of humor.

Through guided improvisation we will wake up creative impulses & focus on shift of weight, awareness and presence in space, and how texture and story can shape and inform movement. We will visit some ballet form and various set exercises throughout to practice maintaining and amplifying our creativity inside formal structures and technique. We will then learn and workshop choreographed material or repertoire, exploring how we can take the discoveries from our movement research and house them inside a specific form. We will play with shift of weight, isolations, musicality, imagination, and how our personal approach can amplify and improve the material while maintaining the integrity of the choreography.

Photos: Cheryl Mann, Nico Patruno