Sarah Hillmer,
Founder & Director
Sarah Hillmer has 20+ years of experience in the professional dance world as a dancer, rehearsal director, assistant to choreographers, stager, educator, creator and arts administrator.
Her company credits include the Atlanta Ballet, glo - as a founding member, and staibdance. Sarah served as a Rehearsal Director at the Atlanta Ballet from 2013-2019 where artistic relationships with Twyla Tharp and Helen Pickett were forged. Sarah staged work for Twyla Tharp at Royal Winnipeg Ballet & Atlanta Ballet, and her work as a stager and assistant for Helen Pickett have taken her to Alberta Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, New York Theatre Ballet, Oklahoma City Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Scottish Ballet, Smuin Ballet, UArts and UNCSA.
In 2017 Sarah formed ImmerseATL, with a passion to connect emerging contemporary dancers to their next steps.
As a choreographer, Sarah has been commissioned to create work for Atlanta Ballet’s Wabi Sabi, Backside of the Tent Productions, Emory Dance Company and Admix Project. Sarah has been a co-collaborator with George Staib on two productions; fence in 2019, which was funded by a grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts, National Dance Project, and Dido & Aeneas in 2023, a collaboration with the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra.
As an arts administrator, Sarah currently serves as staibdance’s Executive Director. During her 6-year tenure she has planned and managed 7 national tours, 3 world premieres, annual workshops, an annual 2-week summer intensive in Sorrento, Italy, (MC)2-Atlanta’s first multi-cultural dance festival, as well as a docuseries based on (MC)2 and a podcast series, Secret Architecture: the process of process.
Additionally, Sarah serves as Business Operations Manager for Windmill Arts, an organization dedicated to the advancement of new work in the arts.
photo by Daylilies Photography
Andie Knudson,
Administrative Director
Andie Knudson is a dancer, maker, videographer, writer, educator, and arts administrator currently based in Atlanta, GA. Andie received her BFA in Dance from Belhaven University with Summa Cum Laude and multiple accolades for her artistic achievements.
On her journey from academia to the present, Andie has continued to deepen her movement experiences with companies such as Doug Verone and Dancers, Fly On a Wall, staibdance, and many others. Since moving to Atlanta in 2020, Andie spent a season working as an Artist with ImmerseATL and a summer with Oriantheatre’s Paris Summer Academy working with artists such as Toula Limnaios, Volmir Cordeiro, Olivier Gemser, and Mehdi Farajpour.
Throughout her freelance career, she has been honored to perform the works of Bill T. Jones & José Limon in addition to working with a wide range of choreographers & improvisation artists such as Nancy Stark Smith, Elizabeth Dishman, Excavate Body (Jacqui Hinkson), George Staib, Sarah Hillmer, and Anna Bracewell Crowder.
Andie is a seasoned Arts Administrator, with experience working with organizations such as The Breath & The Clay, The Sketch Effect, Rise City Dance, and is overjoyed to be working alongside Sarah as ImmerseATL’s first Administrative Director!
photo by Jacquelyn Kay Photography