Mark Sampson, originally from Prince Edward Island, Canada, began his dance training at the National Ballet School of Canada and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. He furthered his education at the Juilliard School, where he earned his BFA and received the Martha Hill Prize for Leadership and Excellence in Dance.
Mark has danced with BJM Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal and Gauthier Dance Company// Theaterhaus. He now works as a freelance dancer, choreographer, and teacher based in Montreal. He has performed in pieces by Kyle Abraham, Camille A. Brown, Aszure Barton, Mauro Bigonzetti, Virginie Brunelle, Merce Cunningham, Sylvain Emard, Itzik Galili, Marco Goecke, José Limón, Barak Marshall, Ohad Naharin, Jerome Robbins, Hofesh Shechter, Cayetano Soto, Twyla Tharp, and Sasha Waltz.
As a choreographer, Mark has created works for the Confederation Centre Art Gallery in Charlottetown, PEI, The Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, the National Ballet School of Canada’s Assemblée Internationale 2013, and Concept Office in Stuttgart, Germany. His most recent work, Sword Swallower, was a site-specific piece that premiered in 2023 in collaboration with Haus Otto, an industrial design company based in Stuttgart. Following this premiere, Mark has been in residence at the Banff Centre, adapting the piece for the stage.
Mark is passionate about finding empathy within his creations, striving to tap into the diverse emotional and physical capacities that exist in our bodies.
Photo: Jeffrey Rosenberg
