Biography

Anya Saugstad is a dancer and choreographer based in Vancouver BC, living and

working on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Sḵwx̱ wú7mesh' (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səlílwətaʔ/ Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xwməθkwəyə̓ m

(Musqueam) First Nations.

Anya trained at ArtsUmbrella, and holds a BFA with honours in Dance from Simon Fraser University. In addition, she has trained with San Fransisco Conservatory of Dance, and with The Performance Research Project under the mentorship of Lesley Telford. Anya has danced with Inverso Productions under the direction of Lesley Telford, and interned with Vanessa Goodman and her company Action at a Distance, and with Amber Funk Barton. Using dance, sound, light, and stage design, she is interested in expressing the untamed self and is pushing to create intimate worlds on stage and in public which reveal honesty and rage. She is interested in telling womens stories through vigorous and exhausting movement, and pushing the boundaries of performance. Anya has choreographed works for Simon Fraser University, Youth In Motion (Shadbolt Arts Centre), Bloom (Mascall Dance), Vines Art Festival, SplitScreen (Boombox), and F-O-R-M Film Festival. She also works closely as a choreographer and dancer for Mount Pleasant Collective, in creating music videos and films.