Sara Pizzi’s Journey: How She Found Home Through Dance

A graduate from LEAD, NWNY’s free workforce development program, told NWNY about her professional and personal growth as an immigrant woman, in which New York City played a fundamental role.

“I was not that scared, this was the point! This is why I felt it was the right decision,” she said about the time she decided to come to New York City. Sara Pizzi is an Italian immigrant woman who moved to NYC when she was 18-years-old and participated in NWNY’s LEAD program in 2020. A professional dancer and performer,  Sara’s passion for dance began at the age of six, a passion that has determined her life path.

“On the very first day of elementary school, I begged my mom to enroll me in dance classes. My father is a mechanic, my mother is a program organizer of a nursing university. Nobody in my family is an artist,” she explained. “The passion for dancing was authentically mine and it was a surprise for them.” She began with propaedeutic (introductory) dance, ballet, and modern. Then, in her teen years, she discovered commercial hip-hop, her first love. “From that moment on, I dedicated all my training to hip-hop, which made me grow as a human being as well as a performer.” 

From the beginning, Sara fell in love with the city, not only as an inhabitant but also as an artist. “In Italy, I always felt like people wanted to put me down; the soil was very dry and, if I had stayed there, I would have had to give up my dream. Here, I got the opportunity to meet people who supported me in my journey and wanted me to trust myself.” It’s for this reason that Sara “knew [she] could make it. The supportive environment [she] found here has been [her] strength.” When she was in high school, in fact, she had thought of quitting dancing. “You know, you cannot really pay rent or find a job as a dancer or artist in Italy.” But she suddenly won a scholarship for ballet and modern dance school soon after high school and she told herself that “this was a chance to put some gas in [her] inner fire; I thought: you know what? Let’s start life from scratch. I was very focused on my goal, which gave me no time to feel too scared.”

Sara’s journey to and in New York did not happen without challenges. “Yes, I did feel a bit lost. I was the first member of my family to move outside Europe. It was like jumping into a black hole. From one moment to another, I passed from planning to stay in my city to moving to another country on the other side of the ocean. If I would have needed any help, my parents were miles away from me.” Her initial challenge was not knowing any English upon her arrival to the city, complicating her attempts at interacting. Yet, her passion helped her overcome all these challenges, which soon became strengths. 

She persistently studied English vocabulary, beginning with body parts, in class. Also, her fellows at school were foreigners too and would encourage each other to improve their linguistic skills. More importantly, though, “dancing is a language without barriers,” she said.  Even not knowing any English, “we dancers mainly communicate through our bodies. I was easily able to read into my fellows’ emotions on a deeper level and dancing was our way of communicating.” Dancing was, therefore, a tool for her to learn English and also a tool to build her new international family. 

In the beginning, she would ask herself: “How can I feel that a place of strangers, an unknown language, an unknown city, are home?” But slowly, her new diverse group and a new mentor made her develop a new sense of belonging. At that point, she realized that “yes, my home was in Italy, but I was also creating a new one.” One day, during an improvisation class, a fellow said that dancers are like light fittings. “This made sense to me. Home is not where we are born, but it is the sum of what we bring with us to a new place and what we build there.” 

This has been particularly true during the pandemic: it kept her away from Italy and her relatives, but it also got her even closer to New York. According to her, the pandemic kept us away from outside reality and stimulated us to explore our inner universe. Exploring her adaptability as a dancer helped Sara develop her understanding of home, which is encapsulated in the film Home she directed.

During the pandemic, Sara tried to find home in her memory and body through art. This is particularly stressed in her piece Mirrors That Hang From Family Trees. This choreography is the journey of a mother in which Sara identifies her persona and her womanhood. This woman “starts with a non-empowering perception of herself, she is lost, she does not feel comfortable with her body. In this struggle called growth, we women can choose whether we want to remain in a transitional state or become the best aware version of ourselves. I grow, like a caterpillar that becomes a butterfly, empowering and celebrating myself every day.” This is a process that Sara could only live during the pandemic when she could not get distracted from her life anymore and find the best version of herself by digging into her memory. 

“Creativity comes from self-reflection,” she said. “We have to acknowledge that all our past Selves are still inside us,” they are home. They are us. For Sara, we are the most mature part of ourselves, and it is our responsibility to protect the other younger and more innocent ones. “My connection with them is all about creating art. When I experience this bridge between me and my inner child, I often wish I had been strong enough. I try to go back to memory and tell myself: Hold on. In ten years, you will be your own light and you will find people that are inspired by you.” She has found, indeed, New York.