Bio
Sydney Donovan is a performer, choreographer, educator, and healer based in Philadelphia, PA. She graduated from the University of The Arts in 2019, receiving her BFA under the school of dance. Donovan started dancing at the age of two in New Jersey and then moved her training to Philadelphia when becoming a member of the Koresh Youth Ensemble at age thirteen. During this time she studied Franklin Method under the mentorship of Shannon Murphy and continued the research throughout college. While at university Donovan studied the movement language of Gaga under Bobbi Jene Smith. She attended the Jacob’s Pillow Gaga Program led by Bret Easterling and Ohad Naharin. Inspired, she continued her Gaga training at Batsheva Dance Company’s studio in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Throughout her time at Uarts, she performed works by Bobbi Jene Smith, Paul Matteson, Zoe Scofield, Doug Varone, Sidra Bell, Milton Meyers, Jesse Zaritt, and Lilach Orestien to name a few. After graduating, Donovan continued her relationship with the university as a rehearsal director for Bobbi Jene Smith’s work Peoples Faces (2019) and Annie Rigney’s film Étude for Elbow (2020). In 2022, she co-directed with Paul Matteson to restage his work What/ Do/ I/ Do/ When/ My/ Love/ Is/ Away? (2018) at the University.
As a freelance dancer, Donovan has performed with Opera Philadelphia in Turandot (2016) choreographed by Renaud Doucet and Semele (2019) choreographed by Gustavo Ramirez Sansano. Donovan continued collaborating with Paul Matteson in his work How Many Times (2020). She was a performer in Lilach Orenstein’s work She Will Come on Her Own (2021) featured in Dance Magazine and Zoe Scofield’s Princess Grace award winning work The Other Shore (2021), both under the dramaturgy of Meredith Glisson. Donovan performed in the Philadelphia Fringe Festival in Hillary Pearson’s premier work HAIR (2022) and Susan Marshall’s installation work Rhythm Bath (2023).
From 2019 to 2022, Sydney was movement director of the creative film/fashion/and movement agency called Wear Your Feelings. Alongside her commercial work with film she also collaborated with mover/ maker Brandon Graf on a durational film project The Poets Divination (2021). Sydney was a 2022 Artist in Residence at MOtiVE Brooklyn where she developed her solo The Many in One are Mingled (2022), guided by dramaturgical exchange with Laura Witsken.
Donovan has a passion for teaching and has taught contemporary at The University of Pennsylvania, BalletX, Amy Novinski Ballet Class at the BOK Building, and numerous dance studios in the Philadelphia tri-state area. She is currently an Adjunct Dance Professor at Drexel University. In 2020, Donovan received her Reiki Practitioner Certification and is fusing energy work with movement practices through a guided improvisation class she calls Reiki Infused Movement.
Recently, Donovan was a guest choreographer at the University of the Arts where she premiered her choreographic work Thy Spirit like Thy Flesh (2023).Currently, she is developing an evening length trio titled TRINE to premiere in March, 2024.
Artistic Statement
I am a vehicle for movement, conjurer of experience and conduit of poetry. Whether I am creating or performing, I embrace the influences of past lives, the many personas inside. My body is deeply aware of who it was, who it is and what it is becoming. The shifts my body makes between lives is where my movement becomes apparent. The dark, whimsical tone of my work is attributed to my interest in the relationship between the conscious and subconscious mind. I focus on clear intention and precision in order to energetically charge my ideas into reality. The essence of my work is questioning the existence of the soul and life beyond our logical comprehension. I answer macro questions by morphing them into micro gestures, guttural spasms from the body. The artistic tool of magical realism and the way it thins the veil between the intangible and physical reality can be felt in both the product of my work and its process. Through spiritual practices and durational improvisation, I strive to channel the wisdom of many lifetimes. My play with seduction allows me the freedom to dance in the juxtaposition of light and dark imagery. Utilizing curvaceous caressing, sliding, and flirtatious movements, as well as smacking, dropping, falling, and vigorous aggression, my hope is for the viewer to be captivated by the dynamic shifts in tone and texture. My work is ritualistically embedded with hidden codes, adding to the mystery and lore I seek. I honor my everyday worship of movement as a ritual of craft, whether it be teaching dance, choreographing dance or dancing myself, it is my moral code. This is what feeds my soul. This is how I exist. Letting my imagination run so far that dance itself is materialized in the chase.
