Shari Williams,
a native of Chicago, IL, is a graduate of the University of the Arts with a BFA in Modern Dance Performance. Under the direction of Donna Faye Burchfield, she trained with Curt Haworth, Kim Bears-Bailey, Zane Booker, Sara Procopio, Katie Swords-Thurman, Meredith Glisson, Douglas Becker and many more. She’s had the honor of performing in the works of a wide range of artists such as Mark Caserta, Iris Bouche, Jesse Zaritt, and Helen Simoneau during her schooling. Upon graduating, she was afforded the opportunity to collaborate and perform in a wide range of projects and productions at sea and on land, leading her into the world of musical theatre, in which she’s had the pleasure of working with choreographers and directors such as Warren Carlyle, Jason A. Sparks, Jared Grimes, and Michael Heitzman, amongst the artistry of Brenda Braxton, Sharon Wilkins, the beloved Marva Hicks, Tamara Tunie, and Jamecia Bennett, along with many others. Although performing is a large focus in her career, she finds great value in building on her own artistic voice. She’s taken advantage of choreographic opportunities such as the annual Black Traditions Concert at UArts, and she and fellow collaborator Arielle Pina were selected to show their work titled No Introduction at the Center for Performance Research for the UArts|Chez Bushwick Field Study Exchange Program which was later revamped and developed in to a full evening-length experience at Headlong Studios in Philadelphia, PA. She was also selected for an opportunity to show her work, perform, and take class with succeeded artists in France and Belgium, allowing her to submerge herself and get to know the movement and culture in environments away from home. Experiences such as these greatly inform her ideas of dance practice and movement invention today. As she continues to build on her artistic voice and practice, it has become her mission to share her unique admiration for movement with attention directed toward mind and body interaction and influence.
Photo credit: Sakin Jael