Sharon's creative practice integrates spontaneous and set movement material~ visual and visceral landscapes~ traditional and experimental performance and art making techniques ~ live art events, situations, landscapes, public art performance/installations ~ and dance on film.
Her practice is also informed by Contemporary dance, Improvisation, Authentic Movement, Laban/Bartenieff and other Somatic studies, Reiki, visual arts, creative writing and music, plus invaluable relationships with artists, creative folks and community members.
Improvisation as a research and performance approach is a particular focus, integrating inner and outer perceptions, as well as embodying subtle layers of presence, identity, and memory. Since 1991, her multi-dimensional performance/video art projects have been witnessed in theaters, galleries, parks, plazas, parking lots, street corners, gardens, cafés, apartments, train stations, empty storefronts, fields, rivers and other intriguing venues throughout the U.S., the UK, Argentina, Ireland, Ecuador, Lebanon and Mexico, and dance film screenings in Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Indonesia, Canada, Norway, and Italy.
Originally from Boston, MA and of Arab-Italian-American heritage, she lived for many years in the Washington, DC metro area, as well as time in NYC and Minnesota. Sharon started loosely directing the performance project mansurdance in 2002, collaborating in cahoots with several near and far flung movement, sound, light design and visual media artists. She has been fortunate enough to perform in the work of BodyCartography, Jess Curtis/Stephanie Maher, David Dorfman, David Roussève, and Sara Rudner. She has also collaborated with Daniel Burkholder, Clare Byrne, Kitty Clark, Ronit Eisenbach, Christy Fisher, Maré Hieronimus, Cyrus Khambatta, Joanna Rotkin, & Ginger Wagg, among other adventurous artistic types.
Sharon's art making has been supported by Dance Place, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Maryland State Arts Council, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the University of Maryland, and The Bossak-Heilbron Charitable Foundation, the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council, the Minnesota State Arts Board, and a Springboard for the Arts HINGE Artist Residency, among others. She was also awarded a 2018 McKnight Dancer Fellowship.
Sharon holds a B.A. in English and Dance from Connecticut College, and an M.F.A. in Dance from George Mason University, is also a C.M.A. Certified Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analyst via the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies, C.M.T. Certified Massage Therapist, and a Reiki Level III Master Practitioner. She is currently studying Craniosacral Therapy through the Heartwood Institute of Integrated Medicine.
Sharon was an Assistant Professor of Dance at Winona State University and Associate Professor at the University of Maryland. She has also been a part-time faculty/guest artist at: American University, George Mason University, George Washington University, Goucher College, Howard University, Luther College, and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
She is currently living in the river town of Winona, Minnesota by the Mississippi, and a bodywork practitioner at Infinity Chiropractic Wellness Center & Yoga Studio.
Her practice is also informed by Contemporary dance, Improvisation, Authentic Movement, Laban/Bartenieff and other Somatic studies, Reiki, visual arts, creative writing and music, plus invaluable relationships with artists, creative folks and community members.
Improvisation as a research and performance approach is a particular focus, integrating inner and outer perceptions, as well as embodying subtle layers of presence, identity, and memory. Since 1991, her multi-dimensional performance/video art projects have been witnessed in theaters, galleries, parks, plazas, parking lots, street corners, gardens, cafés, apartments, train stations, empty storefronts, fields, rivers and other intriguing venues throughout the U.S., the UK, Argentina, Ireland, Ecuador, Lebanon and Mexico, and dance film screenings in Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Indonesia, Canada, Norway, and Italy.
Originally from Boston, MA and of Arab-Italian-American heritage, she lived for many years in the Washington, DC metro area, as well as time in NYC and Minnesota. Sharon started loosely directing the performance project mansurdance in 2002, collaborating in cahoots with several near and far flung movement, sound, light design and visual media artists. She has been fortunate enough to perform in the work of BodyCartography, Jess Curtis/Stephanie Maher, David Dorfman, David Roussève, and Sara Rudner. She has also collaborated with Daniel Burkholder, Clare Byrne, Kitty Clark, Ronit Eisenbach, Christy Fisher, Maré Hieronimus, Cyrus Khambatta, Joanna Rotkin, & Ginger Wagg, among other adventurous artistic types.
Sharon's art making has been supported by Dance Place, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Maryland State Arts Council, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the University of Maryland, and The Bossak-Heilbron Charitable Foundation, the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council, the Minnesota State Arts Board, and a Springboard for the Arts HINGE Artist Residency, among others. She was also awarded a 2018 McKnight Dancer Fellowship.
Sharon holds a B.A. in English and Dance from Connecticut College, and an M.F.A. in Dance from George Mason University, is also a C.M.A. Certified Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analyst via the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies, C.M.T. Certified Massage Therapist, and a Reiki Level III Master Practitioner. She is currently studying Craniosacral Therapy through the Heartwood Institute of Integrated Medicine.
Sharon was an Assistant Professor of Dance at Winona State University and Associate Professor at the University of Maryland. She has also been a part-time faculty/guest artist at: American University, George Mason University, George Washington University, Goucher College, Howard University, Luther College, and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
She is currently living in the river town of Winona, Minnesota by the Mississippi, and a bodywork practitioner at Infinity Chiropractic Wellness Center & Yoga Studio.