Sarah Johansson Locke is a performer, choreographer, and teacher whose work is inspired by her experience with several forms of traditional and contemporary dance, theater, yoga, and somatic modalities. As the Artistic Director of Alchemy Performance, Sarah has been at the forefront of establishing and cultivating the New York Tribal/Fusion scene since 2001. She directs two companies, Alchemy Dance Theater and the Alchemy Tribal Collective; teaches dance, yoga, and anatomy; curates the HYBRID performance series; and performs frequently.

As a certified instructor of yoga and embodied anatomy as well as a dance teacher with 15 years of experience, Sarah is known for her informed and inspiring classes which empower students to find a deep sense of body awareness and creative expression. Her performance style stands out for its strong yet meditative power, its ability to draw you in to a profound and sacred space. Alchemy Dance Theater and the Alchemy Tribal Collective are known for their dynamic movement vocabulary, fluid line, and intricate formations, as well as a strong group stage presence that has been called "mesmerizing", "captivating", "deeply moving", and more. Sarah began her study of tribal bellydance in 1994 and was a member of Gypsy Caravan for several years before returning to NYC (where she grew up) to develop her own style of contemporary tribal fusion as an alchemy of her wide ranging theater, dance, and movement experience. Throughout her career, she has been involved with projects ranging from site-specific installations and street theater to international arts festivals and large theater productions, both across the U.S. and in Europe.

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Sarah Johansson Locke is a performer, choreographer, and teacher with more than seventeen years of experience in Tribal and Fusion dance styles. Her eclectic style draws from her work in many forms of contemporary dance, theater, and visual art as well as her interest in cultural studies and international folk art traditions.

Sarah has extensive training in a wide range of contemporary and folk dance styles including Ballet, Modern, Tribal and Tribal Fusion Bellydance, North Indian Khatak, Butoh, West African, North African, and many styles of Rom (Gypsy) dance including Rajasthani, Turkish, Russian, Bulgarian, Croatian, and Spanish (Flamenco). She has also trained in several physical theater techniques, yoga, Pilates, the Alexander Technique, Body-Mind Centering, and contemporary circus techniques such as stilt walking, trapeze, and body balancing.

Throughout her performance history, Sarah has been involved with projects ranging from site-specific installations and street theater to international arts festivals and large theater productions. As a principle dancer with Gypsy Caravan, an internationally renowned and award-winning Tribal bellydance troupe, she performed at numerous theaters and festivals throughout the United States. Her international projects have included work in France, Croatia, and Slovenia, performing and teaching workshops in dance, theater, and body awareness (incorporating elements of yoga, physical theater, and dance). In New York she has performed with numerous artists across all disciplines, at venues including HERE Arts Center, the BRIC studio theater, Galapagos Art Space, Dance New Amsterdam, Satalla, Joe's Pub, the Brooklyn Lyceum, the Knitting Factory, Symphony Space, and Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center.

Along with her experience as a performer, Sarah has been involved in many other projects that explore cultural exchange and the interplay between tradition and innovation in culture and the arts. She graduated from Reed College in Portland, Oregon with a BA in Religion. For four years she was associated with the Oregon Folk Arts Program, where she worked with traditional artists who were either Native Americans or refugees from around the world. She has also written several articles about dance and was the Founding Editor of Caravan Trails, a quarterly dance journal published by Gypsy Caravan. From 2001-2004 she was Associate Director and Resident Props Designer of the experimental theater company Ripe Time.

Another profound influence on Sarah's work as a performer and teacher has been her extensive study of yoga, kinesthetic anatomy, and somatic modalities including the Alexander Technique and Body-Mind Centering. These techniques share much common ground with her work in dance and theater, and particularly the way she teaches and performs dance, in terms of ideas about alignment, efficiency of movement, and the energy channels of the body. She holds certificates in Embodied Anatomy and Yoga from the School for Body-Mind Centering and in Kinesthetic Anatomy from Irene Dowd.

The Artistic Director of Alchemy Performance, Sarah is also a founding member of Adelantre, a Sephardic performance ensemble, and a facilitator of the dance and music collective PURE (Public Urban Ritual Experiment). She currently teaches dance and yoga in New York City and across the U.S., and performs regularly as a soloist, with Alchemy Dance Theater, and in collaborations with artists in all disciplines.

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