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Karen Sherman
Karen Sherman was based in NYC from 1988 to 2004, but now lives in Minneapolis. She works out of both cities. Her work is known for its humor and concurrent commentary on darker aspects of the human emotional landscape. She is inspired by science, social issues, and the impact of one's surroundings on the individual. She has danced wearing roller-skates, light bulbs, shotguns, waterwings, inflatable boots, OSHA-approved respirators, flammable materials and virtually nothing at all. Her representations of sexual identity - and the experience of inhabiting the female body specifically - push beyond the conventional to give voice to the queer body, and are hallmarks of her performances.
Her work has been presented by P.S. 122, Danspace Project, Movement Research at the Judson Church, The Walker Art Center, The Southern Theater, Red Eye Theater, Studio 303, Highways Performance Space, and various other venues around NYC, the U.S. and Canada. She was a MacDowell Colony Fellow in 2003, a Movement Research Artist-in-Residence in 1999-2000, and a 2006 McKnight Fellow in Choreography. In 2007, she received a New York Dance and Performance Award (aka, a “Bessie”) for her work in Morgan Thorson's Faker. The Twin Cities alternative weekly, City Pages voted her Best Dancer of the Year for 2007, and in 2006, she was recognized with Minnesota's version of the Bessie, a Sage Award, for her performance work throughout the 2005-2006 season. Her work has received financial support from the Jerome Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, The Puffin Foundation, and the New York Foundation for the Arts.
www.karenshermanperformance.org