Uri Sands

Uri Sands has received national recognition for his choreography, a fusion of classical elegance with edgy contemporary action and pulsating intensity with poetic lyricism. A native of Miami, Sands trained at New World School of the Arts, and performed as a principal dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for five years, as well as with PHILADANCO!, Minnesota Dance Theatre, James Sewell Ballet,  North Carolina Dance Theatre as a principal dancer, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet as a guest artist under the direction of Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson. His choreographic commissions include Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, Alonzo King LINES Ballet BFA at Dominican University of California, Dance St. Louis, VocalEssence, Zenon Dance, Penumbra Theatre, North Carolina Dance Theatre, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Sands received the Princess Grace Award in Choreography, the Joyce Foundation Award, and the McKnight Artist Fellowship in Choreography. He was named City Pages’ 2011 “Choreographer of the Year,” and—along with Toni Pierce-Sands—the 2010 Star Tribune Artist of the Year. Sands was also named as a 2015 USA Fellow, receiving the Knight Fellowship in Dance together with Toni Pierce-Sands.