Pitter Patter Pulse/ The Rhythm of the Rainstorm

Sam Watson, Choreographer 

Sam Watson is an Associate Professor of Practice at the University of Arizona School of Dance. He teaches jazz and modern dance techniques, choreography composition, dance ensemble and lectures for dance history. He serves as an advisor for BFA student choreography projects, MFA graduate thesis projects and is coordinator of the recruitment team for in-coming 1^st year students. 

His creative work often merges reality with fantasy while pondering the thought of how the human psyche responds to their environment. Since joining the UA faculty in 1999, Watson has created many choreographic works including: SideShow, a full length interactive site-specific experience, Tales and Rhymes, based on the oddities of the Grimm Brother’s Tales and The Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes and contributed choreography for Broadway/Film actress and singer, Liz Callaway for An Evening with Liz Callaway at the UofA Stevie Eller Dance Theater.

Watson’s choreography has been in the repertoire of companies including, Giordano Dance Chicago, River North Dance Company, Aspen/Santa Fe Ballet, Ohio Ballet, Ballet Tucson, Big Muddy Dance Company, and Masashi Action Machine in Japan. His own dance troupe, WatsOnDance, was featured at the Jazz World Congress in Washington D.C., Wiesbaden, Germany and Nagoya Japan as well as touring the United States, Europe, and Guam. The documentary film, Oh Watson, was created in 2010 by cinematographer/director Christopher Wright which chronicles Watson’s choreography featured at the Santa Fe Dance Festival. 

In addition to his work at the U of A, Sam has traveled yearly to Europe as a guest teacher/choreographer for over 30 years. Currently, he teaches in workshops, seminars and international dance festivals in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy.

Dancers: 

Riley Jo Parish is from Orange County, California. Sher started dancing at the age of four and is currently a Junior at the University of Arizona School of Dance. After graduation, Riley hopes to travel to Europe and join a contemporary modern-based company, and eventually become a choreographer and teach others. 

Kennedy Frazier, originally from Tucson, Arizona, began dancing when she was four years old. Starting out in ballet and tap, she began more serious training at age ten in styles including jazz, modern, pointe, hip hop, acrobatics, and latin ballroom. Kennedy is a fourth year student with the School of Dance and graduating in May. She aspires to move to Las Vegas and continue her dancing on a professional level. 

Kyle Anders is 21 years old and is originally from Sykesville, Maryland. Kyle has been dancing in all styles of dance for nearly fifteen years and is currently in his junior year at the University of Arizona, double majoring in dance and business management. Kyle has loved his time thus far at the University and has enjoyed finding the intersectionality between his interests and passions in both dance and business. After college, Kyle dreams of dancing and traveling with an international contemporary dance company before settling down to open his own dance studio to give back and inspire young artists the way his teachers did for him. 

Diego Gonzales is a current sophomore dance major at the University of Arizona. He is from Denver, Colorado and started his dance journey his sophomore year at Denver School of the Arts. He hopes to someday open a dance studio for underprivileged youth as well as perform on Broadway and television.