Sawyer McNamara
Photo: Tommy Oldham
Dancer, Choreographer, Educator
Biography
Sawyer McNamara, originally from Alpena, MI, is a dancer, choreographer, and instructor currently based in Chicago, IL. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Western Michigan University, as well as a Certificate in Dance Studio Management in spring of 2023. Throughout her time at Western, Sawyer has gotten the opportunity to perform works by Seyong Kim, Monique Haley, Jeremy Blair, Kaitlyn Pollock, Kiki Lucas, Katy Copeland, and Kimberly Cooper of Decidedly Jazz Danceworks. In addition to notable performances, Sawyer also served as a company member of Western Dance Project (2022-2023) under the direction of Kelsey Paschich. Upon graduating from Western, Sawyer served as an apprentice for ConteXture Dance Detroit for their 2023 season and a guest artist for Alluvion Dance Chicago. Currently, Sawyer serves as a guest artist for The Rooted Space Company, and a company member for Trifecta Dance Collective. In addition to performing and life as a company member, Sawyer has also found creative expression through choreography. Her most recent work is a duet choreographed in collaboration with Dani Johnson titled, “Ascendancy.” After premiering in WMU’s 2022 Student Dance Concert, this work was selected to be showcased in WMU’s 2023 Winter Gala Dance Concert and as Western Dance Project repertoire. Most recently, this work has been showcased in Modern American Dance Company’s 2024 Dare to Dance Festival and Alluvion Dance Chicago’s 2024 Emergence Festival.
In addition to life as a creative mover and choreographer, Sawyer enjoys sharing her passion and experience through educating and sharing movement with others. Sawyer currently works as an educator and choreographer for The Dance Centre in Alpena, MI, as well as various other studios in the Chicagoland area. In addition to this, Sawyer also served as president of Movement Exchange at Western Michigan University from 2021-2023. Being in this role allowed her lead an entire chapter of members in providing free, sustainable movement education to underserved populations in Kalamazoo, MI and Panama City, Panama. She now works for Movement Exchange as a University Chapter Coordinator, helping the newest generation of dance diplomats continue to provide movement to the community.
Artistic Statement
As an artist in the dance community, I use movement to explore possibilities of the body and express my individual voice. My contemporary approach to movement incorporates a broad spectrum of contrasting qualities. One end of my movement spectrum plays with light, sustained, and smooth qualities, while the other investigates qualities that are grounded, strong, and direct. I am interested in how these ends of the spectrum weave in and out of one another to create conflict, a principle stemming from the African aesthetic of movement. In addition to these qualities in movement, I value powerful moments of stillness, intricate shapes within the body, and a strong connection to music. These elements and interests of mine serve as a basis for my movement and are transcended into meaningful pieces of art in my choreographic process.
My compositional work is a tribute to my personal experiences, ideas, and points of view. Sharing work with this intention allows my work to serve as a collection representing who I am, what I think, and how I have experienced the world. Through sharing a piece of myself within my work, it is my goal to impact the audience and evoke emotion. My use of repetition, motifs, and physicalized emotion supplements my ability to create art in this way. In my eyes, dance is a powerful medium used to relay a message or statement. Using my spectrum of preferred movement quality and interests, I create work to speak when words are not enough.