Sarah Konner and Austin Selden are dance artists and have been creating dance-theater performance together since 2007.

Sarah and Austin make performances researching dance, humor, and storytelling. We are inspired by cinema, pop culture, and ecological landscapes to comment upon contemporary reality and to expand the ways we can imagine our world to be.  In our work, we share something of our personal relationships, who we are, and why we’re making this. We layer this personal transparency with abstraction to create performance space and time for people to imagine within. 

In many ways we’re in a time of divisiveness as people seek clarity on right and wrong. There is a need for conversations about our planet and our relationships that don’t cement definitions or judgements. But rather, imagination and lightness are needed in discussions of peace and sustainability. In performance, we physicalize conditions for listening to each other, patience for ambiguity, and acceptance of uncertainty; and allow humor and abstraction to do their magic of opening minds. 

Sarah and Austin have shown their work at venues including Smith College, Wesleyan University, the School for Contemporary Dance and Thought. the Detroit Institute of Art, Berkshire Fringe Festival (2011, 2013), Arthur Miller Theater, FLICfest 2013 in the Irondale Center, Judson Church, Dance New Amsterdam, Triskelion Arts, Center for Performance and Research, West End Theater, Danspace Project, First Person Plural, The Dance Complex, AWARD Show! Philadelphia, the Kennedy Center, and through the Field Emerging Artist Residency in 2012. They are grateful to collaborate with artists including ChavasseDance&Performance, Alex Springer and Xan Burley, Anneke Hansen and Megan Kendzior.

Sarah has had the pleasure of working with Jeanine Durning, Sara Shelton Mann, Jenna Reigel, Shura Baryshnikov, Headlong Dance Theater, and setGo Performance. Sarah holds an MFA in Dance at Smith College, a BFA in Dance and a BS in Environmental Science from the University of Michigan, and is certified in Yoga, Pilates, and Body-Mind Centering®.

Austin holds a BFA in Dance from the University of Michigan, is a Licensed Massage Therapist, is certified in mat Pilates and has training in Body-Mind Centering®, Postural Restoration and Visceral Manipulation.  He worked with Shen Wei Dance Arts from 2011-2017 and has worked with Mimi Garrard since 2015.