November 2025

Attuning to the Beauty of Passion with Sara Veale

Episode 188: Show Notes

The incredible beauty of passion lies in the relentless dedication of one’s entire being, a force that radiates outward to inspire and elevate others. Today on the Movers & Shapers podcast, Erin is joined by author and dance critic Sara Veale. A North Carolina native, dancer turned dance writer, currently living in London, UK. Tune into the conversation as they dance into what inspired Sara into a lifelong journey in dance, how dance became an integral part of her identity, and what sparked her journey to shift into one that centers around her writing. They discuss her transition from the US to London, UK, the differences in the dance world, and she unpacks the responsibility of writing dance reviews and why she ultimately finds the Stars system to be fundamentally flawed. They then dive into an in-depth discussion on her book, Wild Grace: The Untamed Women of Modern Dance, breaking down what inspired the writing, how she approached the structure of the book, incorporating advice from her editor, delving deeply into the research, and the timeline from beginning to end. She shares how the book ultimately led her to a new attuning of the very beauty of passion itself! Be sure not to miss out on all this, and as always, much more. Thanks for listening, enjoy!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Sara reveals how a two-year-old girl’s fascination with movement blossomed into a lifelong journey in dance.
• Sara explains what about dance made it such an integral part of her identity.
• The journey of her writing career.
• How her future was shaping up during her time at college.
• Sara unpacks how she got into writing as a dance critic. 
• We discuss her transition from the US to London, UK, and how it shaped her dance writing.
• Finding her voice in the dance critic world.
• Why you’ve got to be reading when you want to be writing, according to Sara.
• The responsibility behind writing dance reviews. 
• She shares why she believes the idea of the Stars system, when writing reviews, is fundamentally flawed. 
• We delve into a discussion on her book, Wild Grace: The Untamed Women of Modern Dance.
• How she approached the structure of her book, finding the women, taking advice from her editor, and making tough decisions.
• Sara explains the research journey she undertook for her book and the women she writes about.
• She breaks down the timeline from the beginning to the end of getting her book published.
• How writing her book had a profound personal impact, attuning her to the very beauty of passion itself.
• Sara talks about the creation of the book’s abstract cover.
• What Sara has planned next: books, sabbaticals, and connecting with her family. 
• We talk about the shortage of non-academic, or mainstream, dance writing.

ABOUT Sara