We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sandie Donzica. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sandie below.

Sandie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I’ve created amazing pieces and shows lately, thanks to meeting wonderful artists with whom a meaningful collaboration blossomed. In my first years in the United-States, it was hard to find the good fit for me as an artist. I’ve felt down about not being in the best place in my career. However, being in that lower point, it made me open to new adventures, relationships and opportunities. This is how I met my previous collaborator and we took a leap of faith by creating our own company with our own technique and unique expression. From there, it gave me more trust in my own work, and being more confident and open made me meet more amazing artists! I am now the director of the company Corps Multiple, working with the best artists I’ve ever connected with, which made me able to create and produce uniquely beautiful shows. The most meaningful project I can think of for this year is definitely my piece Rejuvenation, that was performed 6 times as part of my company’s performance residency at The Butterfly Bar @ The VORTEX. I’ve had the chance to meet an extraordinary pianist in Austin, Jeanne Hourez, which happens to be also French and coming from the same home region than me! Even without a lot of means, we trusted each other and the process and created a beautiful duet with contemporary dance and piano, outdoors under the stars. Jeanne even danced during the piece, and I played a few notes at the piano. We made our own installation and own lighting for the final version of it. The work as extremely well received which was really touching. I think what makes a meaningful project is definitely the artists you work with and how you both connect to the theme and dedicate yourself to the process.

Sandie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Sandie Donzica, I’m the artistic director and co-founder of Corps Multiple, and a French dancer, choreographer, dance teacher and yoga instructor based in Austin, TX. My attraction to devised work and interdisciplinarity led me to work between the theatre, the dance world and the contemporary music field.

I graduated from the Centre National de Danse Contemporaine d’Angers with a Dance BFA (DNSPD) and Dance Administration Bachelor degree. I’m certified as a dance teacher since the age of 18 and obtained my Choreographic Studies Diploma at the Conservatory of Nice, France. I performed works from Merce Cunningham, José Limon, Alwin Nikolais, Anne Theresa de Keersmaeker, Trisha Brown, Malou Airaudo, Jean-Claude Gallotta, Cedric Andrieux, Andrea Beckham, Charles Anderson and Christian Von Howard, among others. I was an apprentice at Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo and Compagnie Julien Lestel.

As a freelance artist, I have danced for Jennifer Sherburn, Toni Bravo, Cheryl Chaddick, Kim Robards, Kathy Dunn Hamrick, Shen Jun Movement Effect; worked and choreographed for The VORTEX Theatre and collaborated with musicians and organisations such as Electronic Planet Ensemble, Fast Forward Austin and Church of the Friendly Ghost. I have performed at Le Grand Théâtre d’Angers, Le Centre National de Danse Contemporaine d’Angers, Le Pavillon Noir (Aix-en-Provence), Dock11 (Berlin), Smock Alley Theatre (Dublin), The Blanton Museum (Austin), The Museum of Human Achievement, Ballet Austin and The Long Center (Austin).

My work centers on form-risking performances, fluid motion and theatrical movement, reaching in the depth of human nature and to the source of our emotions. I focus with my company Corps Multiple on immersive multidisciplinary performances. Collaboration, adaptation and vulnerability are at the center of my creative process; authenticity, articulation and refinement of qualities is what defines me as a performer.

I am currently directing and choreographing for Corps Multiple. I teach dance and yoga classes at Body Collective and private classes for children in French. I’m also the Development and Marketing Associate at The VORTEX.

Is there a mission driving your creative journey?

In my creative journey, what matters the most to me is the authenticity of expression as well as the deep collaboration with other artists. I specialize in improvisation, especially multidisciplinary improvisation, and I think it is because it’s where I find the most freedom, the deepest connection with myself but also the fullest engagement and exchange with other artists. I strive to bring to my audience performances that touch them, make them reflect, make them want to go deeper within themselves. I love to play with the different levels of readings so people can take away what they need and what they are ready for at the moment. I also love to play with very contrasting elements, may it be in my dance or the conception of my pieces. A reviewer once described me as being both the Beauty & the Beast, as a dancer/performer, which I think is pretty true! I mix my different influences, techniques and experiences to provide the most compelling, spontaneous, deep and alive movement as I can. It is something I love to feel, and love to share.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

It’s the freedom. The freedom on stage, the freedom of thought and expression in the process. It’s the feeling of being alive, more than alive, completely present in the moment while at the same time connected to something deep or higher. It’s quite an incomporable feeling, the one to be performing at your fullest, a piece that you created, with artists you deeply connect with. It feels like completion.

I would also like to share a few details about my show:

Consolation of Chaos, December 8-10 at The VORTEX
Film, music, and dance intersect in reflection as the dancer meets the different parts of herself, virtually and physically.
Tickets at www.vortexrep.org

To support the production, you can donate directly here: venmo.com/corpsmultiple or paypal.me/corpsmultiple
To become a sponsor, you can reach out to Sandie at [email protected].

Contact Info:

• Website: www.corpsmultiple.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/corpsmultiple / https://www.instagram.com/sandiedonzica
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/corpsmultiple / https://www.facebook.com/sandiedonzicadancer
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/CorpsMultiple / https://twitter.com/SandieDonzica
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYTMapefYylBGItB2O9YgNQ
• Other: Venmo: @corpsmultiple

Image Credits
Alexis Ramirez, Frédéric Pasquini and Anthony Krizmanic