Samantha Shay
Samantha Shay is a multidisciplinary artist, performer, and director of theatre and film, and movement artist. As a creative instigator, catalyzer and master collaborator, her acclaimed body of work challenges traditional boundaries, creates new connections, and dances across the fault lines between disciplines.
She is currently a Fulbright Scholar working at Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch to discover how Pina Bausch's artistic legacy radiates out into the world today. Her theatrical work has been produced at The Grotowski Institute, the Theatre Olympics, RedCat, HERE Arts (New York), Tjarnarbio (Iceland), LungA (Iceland), and the Edinburgh International Fringe. As a filmmaker, she has made ambitious music videos for KÁRYYN, JFDR, Sóley, and Katie Gately, among others. Her films have screened at numerous film festivals, including BAFTA and Academy Award qualifying Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival, HollyShorts, and CineQuest.
In 2016 her original piece, ‘of Light’, gained international attention when it was developed under the mentorship of Marina Abramović, and praised by Björk in The Guardian. From 2017-2019 Samantha’s original piece made at The Grotowski Institute with Nini Julia Bang, ‘A Thousand Tongues’ toured Europe and the US, receiving two nominations for Gríman – The Icelandic Theatre Awards – including Most Innovative Performance. At the start of pandemic she directed the digitally-devised Zoom play ‘In These Uncertain Times’, in response to how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the arts. The New York Times described the performance as “like a lyrical essay, poetic, emotive and fluid,” and it has been used as a resource by numerous academic and critical researchers as a pivotal theatrical work during the pandemic. Next year she continues as a guest artist and researcher with Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, creating collaborative projects with current and former members of the company, while also pursuing a Special Research Fellowship at the Yale School of Drama.