Symara Sarai

Artist-In-Residence 2024-2026

Symara Sarai, a Portland, Oregon native currently residing in Brooklyn, has immersed herself in interdisciplinary and choreographic studies globally with deep recognition. Named Dance Magazines’ 2025 “Top 25 to Watch,” a 2023 Bessie Winner for Breakout Choreographer, and a recipient of the Dai Ailian Foundation Scholarship based in Trinidad and Tobago, she is known to be a courageously committed performer and maker. The NYT stated “Sarai is a daring solo improviser, and her uninhibited spirit infuses.” At present, she is interested in creating worlds that make space for queer Black femme anarchical play. Their practice works to arrive at ultimate play which is an indulgent practice of surrendering that they are steadily in as a Black, queer, radical, wildass maker in the field. Through her work she aims to embody the destruction of normalcy and known structures. They are eager to exchange thoughts on fearlessness and radical vulnerability centered on empowering uninhibited desires and wants.

  • 2024 Artist in Residence
  • Critical Correspondence Contributor
A brown femme with short curly black hair is in a blue and white puffer and sparkly baggy jeans with her arms opened to the side with one foot propped in a demi releve and the other foot firmly planted on the floor. She is saturated in a deep red light that envelops the whole space.Photo by Elyse Mertz courtesy of Center for Performance Research.
ID: A brown femme with short curly black hair is in a blue and white puffer and sparkly baggy jeans with her arms opened to the side with one foot propped in a demi releve and the other foot firmly planted on the floor. She is saturated in a deep red light that envelops the whole space.Photo by Elyse Mertz courtesy of Center for Performance Research.