Sarah Harkness

Information

Sarah Harkness serves on the Dance Faculty of Santa Fe College and as Co-Director for the Dance Theatre of Santa Fe performing ensemble.  She received her MFA degree from The Florida State University School of Dance and earned her BA in Theatre Arts, with a minor in Dance, at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles.  After earning her undergraduate degree, Sarah worked for Sherry Lansing, former CEO of Paramount Pictures, and founded Meh-Tropolis Dance Theatre, in Los Angeles, serving as the company's Artistic Director for six years, and producing many full-length evening works including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty.  Sarah has also performed with Oberlin Dance Company and with Martin Sheen, Stockard Channing, and other cast members of The West Wing, in the Los Angeles production of Raising Our Voices.  She has directed and/or choreographed such productions as A Chorus Line, Rocky Horror Show, and South Pacific for the Theatre and Dance Department at Loyola Marymount and has been a guest choreographer on multiple occasions at Pepperdine University.  Performances include “Maria” in Sound of Music, “Minnie Fay” in Hello Dolly, “Ariel” in The Tempest, and “Alice" in Closer.  Sarah also performed in the cast of the west coast premiere of Becoming Eleanor.

Sarah was a company dancer of The Florida State University’s Dance Repertory Theatre, working with Lynda Davis, and choreographers Alan Danielson, Michael Foley, Tim Glenn, Gerri Houlihan, Rick McCullough, Andrew Noble, Dan Wagoner, and Jawole Zollar. She has served as Assistant Director, Workshop Coordinator, and Faculty for the Suzanne Farrell Workshop for Young Dancers and the FSU Summer Intensive for Young Dancers Workshop.  Internationally, she has studied and performed with the Oxford, England School of Drama, the Montpellier, France World Dance Festival, Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, and in Valencia, Spain in the Conservatorio Superior de Danza.  Sarah served on the Faculty of Caxton College, in Valencia, Spain, instructing courses in Drama and Modern Dance.  While in Spain, she performed her original work and that of choreographer, Tim Glenn, in Tasia, a performing artists’ exhibit in the heart of Valencia’s main city center. 

Locally, Sarah has worked with Valencia College, in Orlando, was a guest choreographer for Tallahassee Ballet, and was awarded artistic residencies, for the summers of 2013 and 2014, at the Lillian E. Smith Center for Creative Arts, in Clayton, Georgia.  Her work “Returning” was featured during the Joffrey Dance Group Concert winter tour for 2014, during the company’s residency at Santa Fe College. Sarah has choreographed numerous musicals including West Side Story (directed by Guest Artist, Evan Pappas), Sweet Charity and A Chorus Line for the Fine Arts Department of Santa Fe College, and has been creating work for multiple Dance Theatre of Santa Fe productions as well as mentoring student choreographers for their annual concert Room to Dance. She has also served as Coordinator for the Florida Dance Association’s Young Dancers Workshop, 2012-2014.  Sarah's work, "The Act of Waiting Transformed Her", was presented at the American College Dance Association's 2017 Southeast Conference.

Most recently, Sarah worked with Four Corners Musical Theatre Company, in Farmington, New Mexico, as Associate Director, Choreographer and Dancer for their production of "Mamma Mia", in collaboration with Sandstone Productions and directed by Randal K. West.  She also supplied choreography for their production of "Rocky Horror Show."  For the Fall 2021 semester, she has been working as a Rehearsal Assistant to Dance Theatre of Santa Fe's Guest Choreographer, Nathaniel Hunt and has served as Choreographer for Santa Fe College's production of "Lights On, Curtain Up, We're Back!", directed by Guest Artist, Marion Caffey.

Education

Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theatre Arts and Dance from Loyola Marymount University

Master of Fine Arts Degree in Dance from Florida State University