Sasha Waltz
Sasha Waltz was born in 1963 in Karlsruhe, Germany. She studied dance with Waltraud Kornhaas and also at the School for New Dance Development (SNDO) in Amsterdam. Waltz briefly worked in New York where she performed with Pooh Kaye, Yoshiko Chuma, and Lisa Kraus, among others. In 1993 she co-founded her company, Sasha Waltz & Guests, with Jochen Sandig. In 1996 she opened the critically acclaimed sophiensaele, a theater she co-founded with Sandig. She has worked with a myriad of contemporary artists, including Laurie Booth, Mark Tompkins, David Zambrano, Tristan Honsinger, and Frans Poelstra. Waltz has received numerous grants and awards including the 1994 prize for choreography at the International Choreographer’s Competition in Groningen and Berliner Zeitung critics’ prize for Travelogue–Twenty to Eight. In September 1999, Waltz was named one of the artistic directors of Berlin’s Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz. Earlier this year, Sasha Waltz & Guests once again became an independent company, with Jochen Sandig as artistic director.