Daily Inspiration: Meet Jillian Sanders

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jillian Sanders.

Hi Jillian, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Hello, my name is Jillian Sanders. I am a movement artist, choreographer, and educator originally from Ellicott City, Maryland. My dance journey began at the age of 4 at Arabesque Dance Studio in Columbia, Maryland, under the direction of Ginger Freint. I began training in ballet, tap, and jazz, but then proceeded to study contemporary, lyrical, musical theatre, pointe, hip hop, and house, among other forms as I grew older. I danced competitively from ages 6-18, accruing several awards at a variety of regional and national competitions. I always knew dance was significant to me; whenever I would hear music, I would see movement, even in my childhood years. It’s all I ever wanted to do. I simultaneously had a passion for music and rhythm. I played several instruments when I was younger including the piano, euphonium, steel drums, and marching snare drum. In high school, I served on the marching band leadership team as drumline captain, as well as the dance company captain my freshman and senior seasons. My choreography journey began in my living room as a kid putting my iPod nano on shuffle, but continued through my high school career and into college. I received my BFA in Dance Performance & Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCUarts), honing my craft and finding my artistic voice. Those four years in Richmond were transformative beyond measure. I met such incredible people, took risks, and learned invaluable life lessons that I know will stick with me forever. I worked with choreographers including Autumn Proctor Waddell, Eric Rivera, Sinclair O’Gaga Emoghene, MK Abadoo, Dr. Elgie Gaynell Sherrod, and more. I was also a member of Lume Dance Training in LA under the direction of MaryAnn Chavez and Monika Felice Smith from 2021-2025. I trained with many industry professionals and set work on Lume Dance Collective for our 2023 show “What If…” at Stomping Ground LA. I am now a company member with MA.DE Dance Collective, a contemporary repertory company out of the DMV, as well a freelance professional dancer and choreographer. I am a dance teacher and competitive dance coach at Arabesque Dance Studio and Dance Athletics Studio, and am so blessed to be part of both of those communities. I am also a dance competition judge and love providing insightful feedback to inspire the next generation. It’s truly come full circle. I hope to be moving and grooving with friends past, present, and future forever!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has absolutely not been a smooth road! I’ve struggled with my mental health for a little over a decade now, and in several phases of life, I felt like my anxiety and depression were ‘winning.’ So much of the dance industry is being unapologetically yourself and taking risks by putting yourself in unfamiliar spaces, but often I felt like my negative self-talk and self-perception impacted my ability to perform to my full potential. To be transparent, even in this phase of life I’m currently in, I still struggle with negative self-talk at times. Through the highs and lows of my mental health journey, I’ve learned so much about how anxiety and depression impacts a dancer’s processing of information and ability to show up as their whole self, and I’ve made it a priority in my own teaching practices to meet each of my dancers where they are. It goes far beyond teaching them steps, it really is about being a mentor and advocate for them.

Dance is incredibly physical, and more taxing on the mind and body than people may think. 9 times out of 10 dancers deal with injuries and just put the pain on the back burner, due to the disciple instilled in us from a young age. I had my fair share of injuries when I was growing up: muscular imbalances, two stress fractures in my metatarsals, back and neck pain, etc., all of which I bounced back from easily. I definitely took advantage of my younger body and didn’t warm up/cool down as thoroughly as I should have! April of 2024, during my senior year of college with less than 5 weeks before graduation, I began to experience pain in my lower back and down my right leg. I thought nothing of it at first, having endured multiple injuries of this nature before. I tried not to think about it as I wanted my attention to be fully on my BFA capstone and enjoying my last few weeks of college. I started acupuncture and somatic bodywork, hoping a holistic route would eliminate the pain, and that mitigated it enough to get through the semester, but I began to not be able to straighten my right leg. I participated in a summer intensive with Acts of Matter at Stomping Ground LA that summer and assisted MaryAnn Chavez at the Liberate Artists intensive, but experienced severe pain through my lower body. I worked with a chiropractor for 3 months, but nothing was changing and I was getting frustrated. Why had my body been able to bounce back before, but not now? I had friends booking professional gigs right after graduation, and I was told “this is when your body is in peak shape, enjoy it.” I was envious of my friends that got to hit the ground running right after graduation, as that was the expectation I had for myself. I began seeing a physical therapist in October of 2024 that worked primarily with dancers and gymnasts and specialized in spinal injuries, and she truly changed my life. I spent 10 months in intense physical therapy: rewiring my muscles, getting dry needling, steroid injections, and nerve tests. My dance career was completely placed on hold, which at first caused a lot of anxiety and anger, as I’d put so much hard work (and money) into my craft. My mom gave me this piece of advice that I now use when I coach, “just do the next right thing.” I’m a planner and very Type A, so while I was rewiring my muscles, I was also rewiring some of my mental patterns. I learned to truly slow down for the first time in my life, and to take each day moment by moment.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a professional dancer, choreographer, dance teacher, and competitive dance coach. I went to dance school and graduated with my BFA in Dance Performance & Choreography from VCU in 2024. I currently train in a variety of styles, but my heart and soul lies in tap, contemporary, and house. If I could choose one word to describe my movement quality, it would be ’empowered.’ I have learned so much from the strong female figures in my life, and allow myself to sit in both my feminine and masculine energies when I dance. When I perform and choreograph, I am driven by rhythm and musicality, due to my background as a musician. I love breaking down pieces of music by each stem, and really diving deep into the composition of each song I choreograph and perform to. I try to make choices when I dance that set me apart, i.e. finding stillness and subtlety in moments that are heavier sonically, or finding a flow during hard-hitting choreography. I try to carry that same concept when I create. I love playing with polyrhythm, juxtaposition of upper and lower body movements, and attention to textural details. I do credit my parents for keeping me involved in music, as my time playing instruments in my youth truly informs choices in my career today. I believe performing, choreographing, and teaching are three separate skillsets, and I try my best to hone all three. My dance degree focused heavily on anatomy and body somatics, and as a teacher I believe my knowledge in these areas set me apart. Full credit to my professors and choreographers I’ve had the pleasure of working with post-grad, as they’ve given me some incredible somatic imagery to help guide my teaching and coaching practices. I believe that if the dancer is not aware of how the human body works, it is much harder to grow. Understanding dance science, and how the body is connected is a game changer in developing one’s movement quality, choreography retention, and transitions into and out of the floor. I try my best to teach my dancers, even my young students, from a somatic perspective to help them to connect brain and body, as it is also vital in injury prevention!

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
I love to collaborate! I’m always open to an improv or choreo session, and truly believe that the more outside influence you have as an artist, the better. It only makes you a more well-informed, dynamic mover and creator. You can also follow me on Instagram @_jilliansanders and @jsanderschoreo to support my work!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_jilliansanders/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillian-sanders7/

Image Credits
Chynia Harris, Jonathan Hsu, Anthony Johnson