Sarah Zehnder

• Master of Fine Arts, SUNY College at Brockport, Brockport, N.Y., 2011
• Bachelor of Science, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, 2008

Sarah Zehnder (she/her) is a New York- and Massachusetts-based artist and choreographer who passionately serves as director of Dance at Springfield College. Zehnder’s choreographic research, rooted in feminism, aims to cultivate community, inclusivity, and equality by focusing on different relationships through partnering. Zehnder’s choreographic themes often address and challenge power dynamics, socio-political systems and structures, and gender stereotypes, with a focus on the amplification of women's stories. Zehnder’s choreographic work has been produced internationally, performing in such prestigious festivals as Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out, Reverb International Dance Festival, American Dance Guild Festival, the Women in Dance Leadership Conference, Florence Summer Dance (Florence, Italy), Pasadena Dance Festival, DUMBO Dance Festival, the Solo/Duo Festival, the MAD Festival, Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival, the Women in Dance Project (New York City and Chicago), the Evening of Contemporary Dance Performance Series (New York City), Utica Dance Festival, and Buffalo Dance Festival. Her work has been presented at Dixon Place, Ailey Citigroup Theatre, Manhattan Movement and Arts Center, Gowanus Arts, Triskelion Arts, 92nd Y, Greenspace, and the Center for Performance Research. Subsequently, Zehnder was awarded the Appleton Grant as well as a Choreographic Fellowship from the Mass Cultural Council to support the creation of her work, “Permeating Voices that Linger,” in collaboration with composer/vocalist Alexandra Ludwig. Most recently, she was awarded a research fellowship through the Jacob's Pillow College Partnership Program for 2023-24 to support her feminist research. Zehnder has also been commissioned to set choreography and teach master classes as a guest artist at various institutions, including Washington and Lee University and Grand Canyon University. Furthermore, she has shared her choreographic vision as a guest artist at Dance New Amsterdam, Gibney Dance Center, Steps on Broadway, Santa Monica College, Grand Canyon University, Scottsdale Community College, SUNY Brockport, Bowling Green State University, University of Toledo, Glendale Community College, University of Northern Colorado, and Queens College. Zehnder received her Bachelor of Science in Dance from Bowling Green State University and her Mater of Fine Arts from SUNY Brockport. For more information, follow her on Instagram @zehnder_dance or visit zehnderdance.org/.