SARAH STEBEN
Sarah Steben is a Montreal based dancer, educator and choreographer who began her journey at the age of 15 years old. Her passion for hip hop was sparked when she first saw Montreal b-boy crew Illmatic Styles battling. She stumbled upon a local studio called “Studio A” where she was lucky enough to grow up alongside passionate dancers and choreographers for many years. She became a part of the all-female, two-time world champion crew Extreme and then later Aftermath. On these crews she was able to travel to Germany, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, San Diego and across Canada to train, compete and perform.
Her crew-mates inspired and pushed her to search for more within dance and from there Sarah decided to pursue dance as a career while completing her bachelor’s degree at Concordia University. After graduating from Concordia – she dedicated all her time and energy into professional dance.
Sarah is Monsters Dance Alumni (Various), Motivating Excellence Alumni (Rhapsody James), School.ed Alumni (Marty Kudelka), Member of Creation Global (Chicago Footwork). She is a training first type of dancer who values knowledge, culture, and history. Sarah has learned from local pioneers and pillars in Montreal like Marvin Baptiste (House), Alexandra “Spicey” Landé (Hip-Hop), Axelle “Ebony” Munzero & Martine “Cherry” Bruneau (Waacking) and many more. She’s learned and trained under industry choreographers like Rhapsody James, Marty Kudelka, Dana Wilson, Chonique Sneed, Nappytabs, Luther Brown, Luam, Nick Demoura, Kevin Maher and many other Los Angeles based choreographers during her time spent in LA and attending Monsters Dance conventions. She is currently still training in hip-hop, house and Chicago Footwork and will always have a love for commercial choreography.
Sarah has been able to work as a choreographer and dancer throughout her career. She has danced and choreographed for artists like local Brittany Kennell, Stephen Voyce and Alicia Moffet. She has made TV appearances as a dancer on shows like SYTYCD Canada, La Voix, Star Académie, En Direct de L’Univers and many more. She has danced in music videos for artists like The Kills, Tiesto, Celine Dion. Sarah was also a featured dancer on Pixar’s Trolls 2: World Tour choreographed by Marty Kudelka.
With her commercial dance experience, continuous training/learning within the hip-hop culture and teaching experience both across Canada and in Los Angeles (Movement Lifestyle/EXPG LA), Sarah decided to create a training experience for dancers in Montreal who want to be able to refine their skills. As the director and founder of Moving Beyond Dance (est. 2019) – Sarah values skill building before job credits and the search for depth within artistry – in hopes that the next generation of dancers continues to push boundaries while respecting the foundation of the cultures they participate in.
Since creating Moving Beyond, Sarah has produced and directed her own full length dance film (Point of View 2021), choreographed on local television shows like Zénith (TVA) and for large shows like the Festival d’Été Quebec, Montreal Jazz Festival, World Cultural Festival and more.