Choreographer, Performer, Teacher
Sara Caplan is a native of Dedham, MA. She graduated from The Pennsylvania State University in
2013 with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre: Dance Performance and a Bachelor of Science in Biology.
Caplan also graduated with honors in Biology from the Schreyer Honors College. She participated in the Dublin Dance Festival in 2011 and the Bates Dance Festival in 2015 and 2016. Caplan trained with Mariah Maloney, Karl Rogers, Doug Varone, Paul Matteson, and Kathleen Hermesdorf. She graduated with her Masters of Fine Arts in Performance and Choreography from The College at Brockport, State University of New York in 2017.
Caplan apprenticed with ETCH Dance Co. for two seasons. She performed at the American College Dance Festival, State College Arts Fest, and Cultural Conversations. Caplan worked with Diavolo Dance Theatre on “The Secret Life of Public Spaces”. Additionally, she collaborated with the Sculpture and Architecture departments at Penn State on various movement projects. She also performed in works choreographed by Elisha Clark Halpin, Sherone Price, Laura Peterson, Juanita Suarez, Maura Keefe, Kendra Portier, and Beth Gill.
Caplan’s choreographic work explores the building up and breaking down of classical dance forms and the effects of space on the relationship between moving bodies. She has presented concert works and site-specific works at various venues in Pittsburgh, PA, State College, PA, Rochester, NY, the American College Dance Festival, the Pennsylvania State University, and the College at Brockport.
Caplan’s teaching interests lie in bridging the gap between sensory experience in movement and anatomically supported and efficient movement. While in graduate school, she held a graduate teaching assistantship for three years, teaching Open Ballet to majors, Modern for Non-majors, Introduction to Dance and Movement and Self-awareness to non-major students. She held an adjunct position with the Pennsylvania State University teaching modern, ballet and conditioning to students of all disciplines and at Hobart and William Smith Colleges teaching ballet. Caplan also taught ballet at Kennedy Dance Centre in Bellefonte, PA and Studio G Dance in Pittsburgh, PA to students of all levels aged 12-35. She has most held a teaching position at Slippery Rock University teaching contemporary modern, improvisation, wellness, kinesiology, and dance composition for dance majors and Minors, as well as Dance: Art and Culture to non-majors.
In addition to her choreographic, performative and teaching interests, Caplan studied costume design under the tutelage of Emma Scholl at the College at Brockport. She worked on the wardrobe crew at the Bates Dance Festival in 2015 and 2016 and designed costumes for various student concerts at the College at Brockport, as well as for Wild Beast Dance during Rochester Fringe Festival.
Caplan currently lives in Seattle, WA with her husband and dog.
*CV available by request