Sarah Kleinke

Sarah Kleinke (Company Dancer) began her dance training at the age of four at Ann Freeman Dance Academy in Hickory, North Carolina where she was an active participant in the Dance Masters of America Organization. She graduated magna cum laude from East Carolina University (ECU) with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance. Throughout her time at ECU she trained with faculty members John Dixon, Teal Darkenwald, Tommi Galaska, Galina Panova, and Patti Weeks and had the opportunity to perform works by multiple guest artists including John Magnus, Lauren Edson, and Koresh Dance Company. In the summer of 2014 she performed Consumption at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. for the National College Dance Festival for choreographer John Dixon. Shortly after, she worked as an Operations Office intern at Elisa Monte Dance (EMD) in New York City under the supervision of Tiffany Rea-Fisher. Upon graduation in 2015 she attended the New Dialect Summer Intensive under the direction of Banning Bouldin as well as the Bates Dance Festival Professional Training Program on a merit scholarship where she performed a new work by Robert Moses. 

Sarah quickly moved to New York City and began working as a dancer and arts administrator. She performed with LaneCoArts, Kristin Sudeikis Dance, NSquared Dance, Depth Dance and many other freelance choreographers. Notable performances include the New York Capezio Ace Awards for choreographer A'Drey and New York City’s Fashion Week for fashion designer Paola Hernandez with choreography by Tiffany Rea-Fisher. Sarah held the role of Director of Administration for four years at Inception To Exhibition (ITE); an arts non-profit co-founded by Tiffany Rea-Fisher that serves the New York City community and provides grants to emerging artists in dance, theater, and music. Through working at ITE, Sarah coordinated various events and assisted in the curation and management of the Bryant Park Contemporary Dance Summer Series for five summers. 

While continuing to expand her work in arts administration, Sarah became the Company Manager for Elisa Monte Dance under the Artistic Direction of Tiffany Rea-Fisher in 2019. Shortly after, she joined EMD as a Company Dancer in 2020. Sarah is a founding Company Dancer with EMERGE125 (E125) and is now in her fourth season under the Artistic Direction of Tiffany Rea-Fisher. She currently holds the role of Staff Administrator for E125 and her responsibilities are integral to the daily function of the organization.  Sarah has performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Chelsea Factory, The Flea Theater, Bryant Park, Ailey Citigroup Theater, Triskelion Arts, Salvatore Capezio Theater, Lake Placid Center for the Arts, Detroit​ ​Institute​ ​of​ ​the​ ​Arts (MI), Boston Center for the Arts (MA), Nimbus Arts Center (NJ), Loew’s Jersey Theatre (NJ) and many other venues throughout the Northeast. Her filmography as a dancer includes Woman Versus (2016), Fates (2018), Rights of Renaissance (2021), and Geography of Grace (2023). She most recently appeared in Public Works’ The Tempest, directed by Laurie Woolery, as a cameo dancer at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park.   

As a dance educator, Sarah has had the opportunity to be a guest teacher at the Repertory Company High School for Theatre Arts, Newcomb Central School, the Stars of Tomorrow Project, and the Emerging Artist Summer Series. She was on faculty at the Lake Placid School of Dance from 2021-2023 where she taught ballet, pointe, jazz, modern, conditioning, and adult cardio to local students in Lake Placid, NY. 

Sarah is thrilled to be dancing with EMERGE125 and looks forward to continuing her career as a professional dancer and arts administrator.