Bodies of Work ZOE SARNAK

By Zoe Sarnak
Developed with BringAbout Development
Directed & Choreographed by Jennifer Jancuska

Page Contents

1. Synopsis

2. The Music

3. The Choreography

4. Why These Collaborators

5. Why Now

6. Development History

SYNOPSIS

Have you ever felt brash and bold and fearless? Dreaming castles in the air and unafraid to climb for them? And as life happens, what does it mean to realize you’re really in the middle of it, the climb? You’re sure as hell not going to climb back down. But there’s no guarantee that you’ll ever quite get there. In adulthood the world teaches us to manage dreams, to know better. But is it possible that while we think we’re making progress, growing up, we’re actually losing something? Somewhere along the way. As we try to keep climbing.

Bodies of Work ZOE SARNAK is a theatrical journey through a set of expansive and intimate life moments, scored by the very songs that Sarnak wrote while living through them. The piece traces themes of family, identity, queerness, and resilience, revealing how art becomes both a mirror and a catalyst for change. Through music, dance, and storytelling, Bodies of Work illuminates the intense stakes of work when it’s art, and art when it’s life, and perhaps most importantly, life when it challenges us to reach.

This piece is purposefully a mid-career examination of Zoe’s body of work. Rather than a look back at the end of a life's work and story, the piece poignantly addresses the pressing decisions and challenges facing Zoe in process. Even with a significant “body of work” out in the world, so much of the future is still wide-open and ever-evolving. The audience is present with Zoe as she seeks answers by delving into the moment when, after years of “climbing,” her personal life, work life, and the sociopolitical world around her seemed to crumble all at once. They are folded into songs, led to dance, engaged with dialogue, and invited to join Zoe on this pursuit to rediscover what it feels like to do back flips off the diving board after a first belly flop, to love unabashedly following the painful end of a marriage, and to continue making art when it means finding the reserves to start again at a new beginning.

At its core, Bodies of Work ZOE SARNAK is not about finding reassurance that our lives won’t involve failures and falls. Instead, it explores the possibility that not knowing what’s going to happen when you reach—when you care deeply and desperately—might be the whole point.

The Choreography

In Bodies of Work, physical storytelling transcends traditional theatrical choreography, making it as essential and expressive as the text itself.

When the Zoe character steps onto the stage, she immerses herself directly into the music, the people, and the energy that together transform into her personal body of work.

The choreography incorporates every member of the company throughout, activating a physicality that flows fluidly between pedestrian and spectacular, purposefully illuminating layered memories and emotional landscapes. In this way, choreography is the striking narrative tool that propels and embraces Zoe through emotional transformation.

Ultimately, the piece emboldens both performers and audience with a powerful and elusive sense of hope—particularly resonant in today's uncertain world. Music, words, and dance equally provide the audience with unique and deep ways to connect with the journey, culminating in a unified emotional experience.

The choreographic language of Bodies of Work claims its place in the theater—not as ornament, but as essential narrative force. It speaks to anyone who has ever felt stuck—in love, in work, in family, in society—and offers a shared space to reconnect with the core sparks of hope, together. 

WHY THESE COLLABORATORS

Zoe Sarnak
Composer, Lyricist, Book Writer

@zoesarnak
www.zoesarnak.com 

ZOE SARNAK is a Drama Desk nominated and Larson Award winning composer, lyricist, and writer, as well as a finalist for the Ebb and Kleban Awards. Recent Works include: NY Times Critic’s Pick THE LONELY FEW (with Rachel Bonds) at MCC and The Geffen; EMPIRE RECORDS (with Carol Heikkinen) at McCarter; GALILEO (with Danny Strong and Michael Weiner) at Berkeley Rep. Additional works in development include: PARTICLE FEVER (with David Henry Hwang and Bear McCreary) scheduled to premiere at La Jolla in 2027; A BEAUTIFUL MIND (with Sarah Treem); THE INVISIBLE LINE (with Christopher Oscar Peña and Mark St. Germain); ELEANOR (based on the best-selling biography by David Michaelis); SPLIT (with Michele Lowe) and others soon to be announced. Sarnak was named to the 2024 Broadway Women's Fund "Women to Watch" list. Her work has been presented by Second Stage, New York Stage & Film, The Public, Roundabout, Williamstown, Geffen Playhouse, Barrington Stage Company, MCC, McCarter Theatre and others. Her music has been featured by the NY Times Live, The Guggenheim, the BBC and more. 

Jennifer Jancuska
Director, Choreographer
@jencuska

www.JenniferJancuska.com

As a director, choreographer, and conceiver of new works, Jennifer Jancuska brings Broadway tenure to a creative process where dance informs narrative. She collaborates across artistic genres, languages, and locations, forging unexpected partnerships with artists often siloed from dance-making.

Jennifer is the recipient of the Japan-US Creative Fellowship, Jerome Robbins “Stories That Move” Residency, CUNY Dance Initiative Fellowship, and has been named to the “Women to Watch on Broadway” list by The Broadway Women’s Fund. Her work has been commissioned and presented by The Old Globe, Berkeley Rep, Ars Nova, Little Island, Madison Square Garden, Goodspeed, The Drama League, The Skirball Center, Trinity Rep, and Universal Theatrical Group, among others. 

Jennifer launched BringAbout with BC Beat, an acclaimed semi-annual event recognized by The New York Times as the place to “reimagine the possibilities for dance in musical theater.” For six years, BC Beat gathered established and emerging choreographers alongside Broadway dancers and composers, fostering new collaborations at the intersection of dance and music. Out of this foundation grew BringAbout Studio Residencies, where, as director and choreographer, she has collaborated with more than 40 award-winning writers, composers, and performing artists—including Benjamin Velez, Joel Perez, Pig Pen Theatre Company, Zoe Sarnak, Scott Wasserman, Taylor Iman Jones, and Hannah Cruz—pioneering new methods of integrating dance as a formative tool in the development of musicals and plays.

Alongside a career of creating new work, Jennifer spent seven years as Resident Choreographer and Dance Supervisor of Hamilton on Broadway. A graduate of Cornell University, she has studied, taught, and created new work in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, London, Rio, Paris, and Shanghai. She loves rock climbing, hiking, and surfing around the globe and at home in Brooklyn with her family.

Why Now

• Amplifying Authentic Voices: Bodies of Work ZOE SARNAK places a female composer front and center, unflinchingly honest about her experience as a gay, Jewish woman navigating the complexities and pressures of defining her own path. Zoe opens up about her fears, successes, and doubts—offering a connection that is both uniquely personal and broadly relatable. This raw, transparent storytelling makes Bodies of Work profoundly relevant in today’s world.

• A Mid-Career Reflection: Bodies of Work challenges the conventional narrative by examining an artist's journey not from a point of culmination but while it is still unfolding, making this exploration timely and urgent. As Zoe noted in a recent New York Times article, “There’s amazing, beautiful content about career retrospectives, but what does it mean to look at a body of work while it’s still in formation?” (New York Times, September 2024)

• Innovative Collaboration: As highlighted in BroadwayWorld, “Award-winning composer and lyricist Zoe Sarnak, along with pioneering Artistic Director of BringAbout Development, Jennifer Jancuska, both recently named to the Women to Watch on Broadway 2024 List by the Broadway Women's Fund, have teamed up to create "Bodies of Work Zoe Sarnak.” The project represents not just a new musical but a nuanced approach to storytelling and marks a significant milestone for BringAbout, a 501c3 nonprofit organization known for its transformative integration of dance into new musicals.” (BroadwayWorld, July 2024).

• Inspired Tonality: Tonally, Bodies of Work ZOE SARNAK draws inspiration from pieces that challenge and expand the traditional theater format, such as What the Constitution Means to Me and American Utopia. These works balance personal narrative with universal themes, creating a space that is both intimate and expansive. By integrating music, dance, and candid storytelling, Bodies of Work ZOE SRNAK aims to capture this dynamic energy, presenting a theatrical experience that is both reflective and boldly innovative.

Development Timeline

Development of Bodies of Work ZOE SARNAK began with BringAbout Studio & Multi-Day Residencies investigating Zoe's songwriting journey. The project was then developed and honored by New York Stage and Film as part of their Jerome Robbins’ STORIES THAT MOVE: DEVELOPING DANCE MUSICALS residency and continues moving forward with support from CUNY Dance Initiative, The Chelsea Factory, and Baruch Performing Arts Center in New York City

Bodies of Work copyright BringAbout Development (Sendroff & Baruch).