“As a classically trained student of modern dance, the music of Johann Sebastian Bach has been a pillar of my education. I have performed many works to Bach, each one of them unique and challenging. It can be somewhat of a competition to match the energy, intensity, and emotion of the music; it is the engine that drives the dance forward, and a buoy for me to cling to in performance. What I love most about dancing to Bach is the feeling that I am the the music, visualized.” – Sarah Elizabeth Stanley

Sarah Elizabeth Stanley was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona where she began dancing as a teen. She earned a B.A. in Dance from Sarah Lawrence College and is currently pursuing a Master of Legal Studies from the University of Arizona. Sarah has performed works by Alvin Ailey, Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham, Bill T. Jones, and Paul Taylor, among others. She was a Taylor School scholarship student for five years and senior member of the student company. Her commercial credits include a feature in Dance Spirit magazine. As a freelance artist, she has performed with DIAVOLO in Los Angeles and with the opera Paradise Interrupted at The Metropolitan Museum, Lincoln Center Festival, and Spoleto Festival USA.

Instagram @sarbethstan

Sarah Elizabeth Stanley will be performing with Brynn Bodair, dancer and Jennifer Chen, cellist.

“The music of Johann Sebastian Bach has inspired my dancing from a very young age. I grew up studying ballet in the conservatory setting, which allowed me to experience the music of Bach in tandem with the cultivation of my passion for dance. The piece I created, “Visions of Gideon,” was dynamically inspired by the full, yet playful, all-encompassing sound of Bach’s Cello Suite No.1 in G Major. The music of Bach accomplishes what I strive to create in my dancing. The melodic sounds set both moods and tones that cause a stirring of raw human emotions dictated by the movement of the music.” – Brynn Bodair

Brynn Bodair, a versatile performer, hails from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She trained extensively with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s principal dancers and received private coaching from The Kirov Ballet’s Jutec Kasamon. She studied with the Atlanta Ballet, Texas Theatre Ballet, and Pittsburgh Ballet. She has performed in several classical ballets, and with Maria Caruso’s Bodiography Contemporary Ballet Company as a trainee. She interned for the Bill T. Jones Summer Intensive, and trained with Keigwin and Company at The Juilliard School. Brynn attends Loyola Marymount University where she is pursuing a double degree in dance and political science, as well as a minor in screenwriting, and continues training with Dance Teacher Magazine featured teacher Roz Leblanc Loo and BODYTRAFFIC’s co-artistic director Lillian Barbeito. Brynn is eager to work, spreading her infectious motivation and work ethic with all.

Brynn Bodair will be performing with Sarah Elizabeth Stanley, dancer and Jennifer Chen, cellist.

A variety of performers will play Bach casually from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, March 24, at the National Music Museum. All instruments types welcome. Museum will offer a Clavinova for use by keyboard performers.

バッハ生誕333年祭によせて
1回目：14:00 ～ 2回目：15:30 ～

This performance will be my last performance in Eugene. I hope all UO students, faculty, and staffs who are going through the difficult moment (as the week of 21st is the finals’ week) would have a musical power from Bach’s music that I get to share with them.