Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Pizzi.
Hi Sara, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I’m a contemporary conceptual dance artist, including a choreographer, dancer, and dance teacher. My career started in my teen years with urban/commercial dance, being part of the dance agency “Spotlight Work Team,” which allowed me to perform for national events, competitions, TV shows, and advertisements commercials. Therefore, my career had a drastic change of direction once I moved to New York. My education has become primarily based on ballet & modern techniques, landing on the complete focus on the study and application of contemporary dance, being able to create an organic and unique style that mixed my urban background with a more academic and technical aspect. Now, my art is based on any physical medium that can evoke any inner personal exploration, deeper analysis of our inner self, creating a safe place for discovering and questioning & can bring togetherness in solving some common social issues. This creates performances that break the concept of standard performance, creating collaborative, conceptual, interactive art experiences & teaching at any level and any age, prioritizing any class that involves people with physical and mental disabilities or for underrepresented communities. These are the goals of my movement collective, which I founded in 2021 with Aika Takeshima. I am naming it the sarAika movement collective, and I look forward to expanding my network and dance abilities to other contemporary dance companies/organizations. I trust in this project, and it makes me proud that last year, we grew so much, performing every month for organizations/events and different DEI obeing able to assist and represent underrepresented communities and voices. Thanks to the success of this year, the schedule for 2024 is full of exciting projects, making me proud of myself and the NYC dance community. In the meantime, as a performer, I’m currently working for several dance companies based in NYC and for various aspects of projects that can include pure dance or collaboration with visual and performing artists. I’m a company member of Valerie Green/Dance Entropy (also teaching artists for afterschool programs), Six Degrees Dance, Reza Dance Project, Faustine Lavie Dance Project, and Julia Asher collective & I’m the dance captain of The Next Stage Project & Light Painting NYC. In addition, I was recently a project-based member of Kaleid Dance Collective & I was a guest artist/choreographer/dancer at more than 70 events/organizations based in the five boroughs of NYC from 2021. I’m a dance teacher for the Woodside on the Move program, teaching dance to the combined class that sees youth and seniors together – and a dance teacher at Dalton School, MS447, and DanceWave. Lastly, I’m a videographer/photographer assistant for BECCAVISION.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The struggles I’m facing right now as an independent artist living in New York are the lack of time, the highest risk of burnout from work, and losing your goals. Time becomes a slippery object you can barely grasp, slipping to your fingertips. Being a freelancer pushes you to be able to work every day and every time, and managing time efficiently must be part of your skills if you don’t want to lose your social life. Feeling you are doing too much at the same time and not doing enough is one of the most concrete and struggling feelings I have (and I’m sure I’m not the only one). Learning to say no to opportunities and focus on defining what is helpful, satisfying, and productive for the success of your career is one of the biggest struggles all artists like me suffer in this city. The increase in the importance of presence in social media is not helpful too, pushing everyone to compare themselves with other individuals, losing track of whether they are doing what their heart is telling them to do, or because they are inside the copy mechanism of becoming someone that you are not just because that looks like happiness? Having a daily reminder of who you are, what you want, and doing only what will help you to proceed with your career, pay your rent, and make you happy is a lifesaving tip that will allow you to decrease your daily struggle and have more time with your beloved ones.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My art is based on any physical medium that can evoke any inner personal exploration and deeper analysis of our inner self, creating a safe place for discovering and questioning & can bring togetherness in solving some common social issues. This creates performances that break the concept of standard performance, creating collaborative, conceptual, interactive art experiences & teaching at any level and any age, prioritizing any class that involves people with physical and mental disabilities or for underrepresented communities. What sets me apart from others, I believe, is the themes my work underlines and the intention behind it. Breaking these two concepts down, my dance’s themes do not start from a personal story or from my singular experience, which raised a specific personal emotion, but are topical aspects within which everyone can resonate. So, my work speaks for/to/about people to spark the imagination and inspire every individual regardless of status, language, or experience. Regarding the intention, I’m using my technique to tell a story; I’m not using a story to show off my technique. I’m dancing for others, not for myself. My dance is an action of love; dance is a social action. And I’m proud that in the last couple of years, this message was well derived, being able to perform all over NYC, receding appreciation and growth back, being able to produce performances and classes which gave a huge benefit to our community starting to create a more diverse, inclusive and equitable environment.
What matters most to you?
What matters the most to me is my artistic and personal mission. My drive is my mission, and I’ll work hard daily. Identifying myself as an activist artist, I create art for and about people & my art is based on any physical medium that can evoke any inner personal exploration, deeper analysis of our inner self, the creation of a safe place for discovering and questioning & can bring togetherness in solving some common topical aspects. This creates performances that break the concept of standard performance, creating collaborative, conceptual, interactive art experiences & teaching at any level and any age, prioritizing any class that involves people with physical and mental disabilities or for underrepresented communities. Of how pretentious it can sound, I want to contribute to the evolution of the dance work, breaking the wall between artists and nonartists and making the dance world more accessible to learn and understand. This is why I believe what sets me apart from others is my work’s themes and the intention behind them. Breaking these two concepts down, my dance’s themes do not start from a personal story or my singular experience, which raised a specific personal emotion. Still, they are topical aspects with which everyone can resonate. So, my work speaks for/to/about people to spark the imagination and inspire every individual, regardless of status, language, or experience. Regarding the intention, I’m using my technique to tell a story; I’m not using a story to show off my technique. I’m dancing for others, not for myself. My dance is an action of love; dance is a social action. And I’m proud that in the last couple of years, this message was well derived, being able to perform all over NYC, receding appreciation and growth back, being able to produce performances and classes which gave a huge benefit to our community starting to create a more diverse, inclusive and equitable environment. This is my mission, and I’ll work every single day to reach my mission to as many people as possible, from performance to education to open collaboration and evolution of the performing arts.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sarapizzi.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_sarapizzi_/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sara.pizzi.7
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-pizzi-a514281a6/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SaraPizzi3
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrojXl1b6CortTwOIyKIvCA
Image Credits
Beccavision SDF Media
