Sandra Parker is an Australian choreographer. She creates rigorous choreographic works, characterised as continuous in form but prismatic in structure. Her practice focuses on attuning attention beyond the immediate, revealing the limitations, vulnerabilities and potentials of the body and subject in the contemporary world.
Parker's carefully distilled corporealities are situated in specific environments that often put the viewer in close proximity with performance, inviting absorption and involvement in the dancer's quest for reformulation and transcendence.
From durational works to evening-length pieces, theatrical presentations and off-site intimate contexts, Parker does not rest solely on the expectations of dance production. Her works often employ a range of materials including light, sound, video, interactivity, objects/kinetic sculptures and text, where an evolution of methods and processes are interrogated into the creation and presentation of dance.
Sandra Parker has presented her work in Paris, Berlin, Portugal and New York, and undertaken residencies including: the inaugural The Australian Ballet residency; Italy (Bogliasco Foundation Fellowship); China (Red Gate, Beijing and Guangdong Modern Dance Company, Guangzhou); Paris (Cite internationale des Arts), Tokyo (Kei Takei’s Moving Earth); Sydney (Critical Path); Berlin (the Sophiensale and Laborgras); and New York (Residency Unlimited).
She has collaborated with Chinese director Hope Chiang, Macau and Gender/Power artists Maya Ciarrocchi and Kris Grey, NY. From 1998-2006, she was the 3rd Artistic Director of Dance Works, the iconic Australian dance company, creating innovative collaborations with many artists and arts organisations, including Melbourne International Festival of the Arts 2000, 2002 and 2003. International projects include the creation of Span with Shelley Lasica and American Choreographers Bebe Miller and Susan Braham, for Danspace, St Mark's Church, New York and Wave Hill, the Bronx.
Sandra Parker’s work has been supported by Creative Australia (Australia Council for the Arts); Creative Victoria (Arts Victoria); City of Melbourne; City of Port Phillip; Besen Family Foundation; Australia China Council; Ian Potter Cultural Trust; American Australia Association; and Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.