Sanctuary

Overview

From a pit of welled sadness and anger, ‘Sanctuary’ delves into the story of what it means to grapple with the pain that resides in systemic dysfunction. It chronicles the process of finding comfort in the bodily self after traumas, tragedies, and struggles a person experiences in dysfunctional family systems.

‘Sanctuary’ is not just a performance ritual but a transformative journey to alchemize the grief from our familial lineages. It is part autobiography, part collective healing, and a dynamic tool for finding refuge within and for the self. The deep work of uprooting the maligned stories and beliefs from the oral histories we carry is communicated through a grieving process of what could have been towards what can be. When the mental and spiritual selves disentangle from generational trauma, the body becomes a sanctuary instead of a scorekeeper.

About the Artist

Amber Hongsermeier is a neurodivergent and interdisciplinary movement artist, educator, and dance filmmaker. She received her BA in Dance with a history minor from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where she was awarded the Porter Award for Creativity in Dance. In 2021, she earned her MFA in Dance from Rutgers University with her thesis focused on finding embodiment by exploring archetypes in astrology and tarot. Also, in 2021, she completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training.

Her varied educational and performance background consists of commercial, concert, and vernacular dance forms, which gives a nuanced understanding of aesthetics and the high-brow and low-brow narratives built around these forms. She has performed works by Kayvon Pourazar, Blanca Huertas-Agnew, Jody Sperling, Pavel Zustiak, and Jessica Bostock. Her work for stage and film has been shown in Nebraska, Iowa, Washington, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Japan. Often, her creative research uses frameworks from cultural anthropology, Jungian psychology, religious studies, and somatics to examine Western society, especially concerning the body, spirituality, and movement.
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Currently, she resides in South Jersey/Philadelphia, where she works as a full-time dance professional

Credits