The Story So Far...
Sarah-Kate
Sarah-Kate started dancing in Beaumont, Alberta in 2000, and by the start of her second year she knew she wanted to make dances (she didn't even know the word for 'choreography' yet).
She continued training in ballet, taking extra classes and passing several RAD exams until she transferred into the mentorship of Caroline Clark in 2008.
Under Caroline's gentle guidance, she flourished, growing her strength, grace, teaching, choreography, and characterization skills. She taught herself to read and write Benesh Movement Notation and choreographed over a dozen works (mostly ballet) in 2012 alone. In September 2012, she bought her first pair of tap shoes and changed the trajectory of her life.
In May 2013, the first public performance of her choreography took place in a variety dance show in Edmonton, Alberta. She then moved to Saskatchewan and obtained an AA, then a BA Music (concentration in musical theatre), all while maintaining a full-time dance training schedule and feeding her theatre hobby on the side. Her first two dance films, Shades Of Green And Red and Rift were both created during this time. It was also around this time that she developed and performed the heart-wrenching ballet solos One More Time and Longing, both of which underscored her ability to perform with emotional depth. She emerged from college in 2019 with over 50 shows on her résumé, and that number was rapidly growing.
The pandemic put a stop to all of it, so -- after sneaking in the winning tap solo Space Tango to House Of Jazz's This Is How We Dance online competition -- she returned to Alberta and hibernated. Times were tough in many ways, and she very seriously considered quitting dance altogether.
But in 2023, she decided she was not done and returned to the screen with the 20-minute Sottovoce, a multidisciplinary dance work performed in silence that was miles ahead of anything she had ever attempted before -- all choreographed, filmed, edited, and released in 58 days. Inside Of You followed in October, and within six months she had landed a contract to choreograph the musical Curtains for Kaleidoscope Theatre in Drumheller, Alberta -- her first full-length show choreography opportunity. Grease (Churchmice Players, 2025), and Newsies (Three Hills Arts Academy, 2025) soon followed. Newsies in particular was a shining moment, her tap solo brought down the house every show and over half the run sold out. Later that same year, she became the first person to perform a tap dance set in the legendary theatre town of Rosebud, Alberta.
She is currently working in Treaty 7 territory (Three Hills/Rosebud/Calgary/Drumheller) to create more tap dance opportunities for herself and for anyone who wants to learn.
