Sarr's miniworkshop focus on technique, musicality and groove and also contain elements that Sarr brings from his research into the history and origins of jazz dance.
The classes start with a thorough warm-up that includes release technique, isolations and some floor work. He also gives choreographies with a mix of Contemporary dance and Jazz, plus a hint of Hip Hop elements, where he will also be able to incorporate specific movement elements from his artistic research and share the knowledge of their origins. Daniel Sarr's classes thus tie together contemporary jazz dance with elements from jazz dance's historical African origins and recognize the dynamics and time span between them.
In his artistic work Daniel Sarr investigates the history and origins of jazz dance: where jazz dance comes from and what it looked like in its early stages. For example movements that we today describe as "Jazzhands", turn out to originate from ancient African dance ceremonies. Breakdancing, which is said to have been invented and developed in the South Bronx, New York in the 70s/80s, has recently been identified in old documentation/video from Nigeria in 1959 where they practice what we today call Breaking. How this is a result of the ancestors' forms of expression that have been passed on and influenced based on different environments and political climates throughout the ages, is something Sarr finds exciting and important to explore further.
Sarr's interest in investigating jazz dance's African origins is linked to a focus on the value and significance of representation and visibility of melanin-rich bodies.
Daniel Sarr started working professionally at the age of 13. When he was 16, he entered the Art Academy in Oslo and graduated with a Bachelor’s in jazz dance. He specializes in Hip Hop and Jazz, but also has training in other styles. He has broad experience both from different dance- and theatre productions and from the commercial field. Sarr has worked with companies/choreographers such as Oslo Danse Ensemble, Jo Strømgren, Fredrik Benke Rydman, Ingri Fiksdal, Nordic Black Theatre, Nagelhus Schia Prod. & Nakul Dev Mahajan. In addition, he can be seen in various TV productions as a dancer and choreographer. He has worked with artists such as A.R. Rahman, Madcon, Loreen, Julie Bergan & Ash Embla. In 2008 he was a Norwegian semi-finalist in "So You Think You Can Dance Scandinavia" and in 2011 he won "Eurovision Young Dancers" as a representative of Norway.
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The dance artists leading the workshops of the mini-workshop series are visiting Helsinki with the joint Nordic project called Sustainable Dance Training. The project partner from Finland is Tanssille ry. In addition to Zodiak's workshops, which are open to everyone, they lead morning classes for dance professionals at Tanssille ry. Two workshops of the mini-workshop series were organized in the fall of 2023, and one more now in the Spring of 2024. Among the project's artists, Dorte Bjerre Jensen, Linda Blomqvist and Daniel Sarr visits Zodiak. In these workshops, you can dive into dance while working from different perspectives.
