Vershawn Sanders

Artist Bio

Vershawn Sanders is a dancer, choreographer, educator and Artistic Director of Red Clay Dance Company. Ms. Sanders holds a MFA in Dance from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and was the first recipient of a BFA in Dance from Columbia College Chicago. She has had the pleasure of working with noted choreographers Mikhail Baryshnikov, Germaine Acogny, Jawole Zollar, Patricia Nanon, and Gerald Casel. Her work has been presented at dance festivals in Chicago, New York, and Martha's Vineyard. In the fall of 2007, she traveled to Senegal West Africa to complete a two-month training and cultural exchange program at L'Ecole Des Sables under the direction of Bessie-Award winning choreographer Germaine Acogny that shifted her choreographic efforts toward creating new work through collaborations with African artists. Most recently she was awarded a 2009 Fund for New Work grant through Harlem Stage-Aaron Davis Hall for the creation of New World Afrikans and her company was selected to participate in The A.W.A.R.D. Show! 2009: New York City at Joyce Soho. She currently divides her time between teaching residencies in Chicago and directing her company in New York.

Artist Statement

My goal as a choreographer is to create work that engages and challenges my audience in their roles as responsible citizens of the world. My artistry serves as an entry point for audiences to examine and dialogue about societal issues such as racism, sexism, and classism. My work seeks to inform and challenge the audience to contemplate where they stand on these issues. It also serves as a catalyst for change in the viewers' thoughts and actions towards these topics. The content of my work, often narratively based, draws upon my lagacy as an artist of African descent. My choreography focuses on societal issues such as oppression, exploitation and misrepresentation of African people from Alabama to Darfur. I am also very interested in international collaborations, specifically between artists from Africa and those from the African Diaspora. I strongly believe that a re-connection between these two groups on an artistic and personal level is mandatory for the survival and advancement of African people around the world. How the body cuts through space and draws the audience into life's labyrinths is at the crux of my choreographic intent. My esthetic is anchored in the grounded and articulated motion of West-African dance, combined with the "coolness" and "edge" of the hip-hop culture expressed through the classical modern dance idiom. The movement is grounded, powerful, and full, but ready to take flight at a moment's notice!

Educational Philosophy

I believe that if you can walk, you can dance. We are all natural movers and if there is a desire to learn dance the skills can grow purely from that desire. I know that everyone learns in a different way, some with a more kinesthetic need to learn particular concepts; these are the students I was created to teach. I aim to challenge my students in their approach to learning new concepts and encountering obstables in their learning. As a teaching artist, I bring the knowledge I have of the professional dance world into the classroom for the students to not only experience this new world, but to gain an appreciation for the discipline and dedication it takes to succeed in this "world." I am a very energetic and fun teacher who truly believes in validating the individual and helping my students find their own creative voices.