Sarah Ashkin (she/her/hers) an educator, choreographer, scholar and trained facilitator committed to dismantling racism.
By the grace, generosity, and labor of her teachers, Sarah understands white supremacy as a white problem (Yancy, 2007). As such, she sees her work as an active practice positioning her whiteness as the problem, while cultivating a many-pronged approach to calling in other white folks into our responsibility to dismantle racism.
As a professional dancer and dance company director, with over 15 years of experience as a movement educator, Sarah understands embodied learning as an invaluable mode of processing the histories, theories, and concepts presented by anti-racist education.
She has used her position on campuses to organize social justice programming, serve on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committees, and co-found a multi-racial team of educators supporting the needs and identities students of color, and an anti-racist learning space for white students. As an Arts for LA fellow, Sarah supported the co-development of a Social Justice Driven Arts Integration Framework for Los Angeles Public schools.
In her work as a choreographer for GROUND SERIES dance collective, Sarah uses performance as an opportunity to confront white supremacy and settler colonialism while raising funds and awareness for BIPOC organizations and efforts.
As a scholar, Sarah researches and writes on whiteness and the body, white supremacist legacies in education, and racism in the performing arts. She has undergone intensive anti-racist facilitation training the Urban Bush Women and the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond, Alliance of White Anti-Racists Everywhere, Los Angeles, and artEquity. She earned her BA from Wesleyan University in Dance Performance and Choreography and Environmental Studies, and a MA from University Roehampton in Dance, Politics and Sociology. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Performance Studies at UC Davis.
As a facilitator for Practice Progress, Sarah is honored to bring her commitment, care, and humility to each training and participant.
To learn more about Sarah: sarahashkin.com