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PrintInterview with Sara Procopio
Written by Alyssa N. Crump, The National Dance Association
Sara Procopio is a professional dancer, teacher, and artistic associate with Shen Wei Dance Arts. Shen Wei Dance Arts was founded by modern dance choreographer, Shen Wei, in 2000, and has since taken off as one of the most innovative and mesmerizing modern dance companies around. Between touring and a long week of tech rehearsals and performances, Sara took the time to speak with me about her experiences with Shen Wei, and her life as a professional dancer and administrator.
Sara Procopio in "Connect Transfer", Shen Wei Dance Arts. Photo courtesy www.shenweidancearts.org.
Q: Could you tell me about your background as a dancer, and how long you have been dancing with Shen Wei?
A: I graduated from Hollins University. I got my undergrad and masters in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Dance, and I focused on dance performance, dance education, and dance administration. I've been working with Shen Wei Dance Arts for the past eleven years.
Q: You also work as an artistic associate with Shen Wei Dance Arts - what other responsibilities do you have with the company?
A: When Shen Wei first formed the company, as with most small dance companies that are starting out, all the dancers took on additional responsibilities. I had done admin. work at Hollins and at ADF (the American Dance Festival) where I had been an intern, so I just sort of fell into the role. I've done things such as grant writing and scheduling rehearsal space, while others in the company took on roles of wardrobe and rehearsal directors.
Q: What is the daily schedule usually like for the company when you are touring?
A: We have company class in the morning, then afternoon rehearsal either on the stage or in the studio, and then a show that night. After the first night of the show we then usually start with company class in the afternoon, and then the performance that night, so we can get our rest.
Q: Shen Wei has a long-standing relationship with the American Dance Festival, and the company attends and performs at the festival each year. Can you explain how that relationship began and the different ways that Shen Wei remains involved in ADF?
A: The company dates back to the summer of 2000 when Shen Wei was commissioned to choreograph a Past/ Forward piece* called "Near the Terrace", which was very well received. He invited six or seven of us that had been in that piece to join him the following spring to create his own company, and by the end of it we had a group of 12. From then on we have been working and touring. We sometimes hold auditions for new company members or apprentices at ADF, and we come back every year and offer a master class.
Q: What first drew you to Shen Wei's movement style and technique?
A: I first met Shen Wei in '97 when I was a student at Hollins. He was there to teach and perform a one man show. I went to a lecture of his and listened to him speak about China. I was just intrigued by him and his movement. Three years later in 2000 I went to ADF and I found out he was commissioned to choreograph a piece on students, and I was accepted into that piece.
Q: Do you have any advice for young dancers who wish to join a modern dance company?
A: Keep an open mind and open body and explore all of your options all the time. Now it seems that more dance companies are moving away from the structure of a larger company and are becoming smaller, and are on more of a project-to-project basis. Keep open- there's lots out there.
*Past/ Forward is an annual concert that the American Dance Festival presents where legendary and emerging choreographers are both recognized in commissioned works set on ADF students. Past works include Jerome Robbins' "West Side Story Suite", Laura Dean's "Infinity", and Rosie Herrera's "Various Stages of Drowning: A Cabaret".