Sam Wentz

Photo by Josh Rose

Sam Wentz is an LA-based dancer, performer and maker. Wentz has collaborated with a wide range of artists and companies, including Ajani Brannum, the Trisha Brown Dance Company (2009–2014), Wally Cardona + Jennifer Lacey, Jay Carlon, Gerald Casel, Dimitri Chamblas, the Merce Cunningham Trust, Katherine Helen Fisher, Levi Gonzalez, Jmy James Kidd, Mark Morris Dance Group, Abigail Levine, Annie B .Parson, Judith Sánchez Ruíz, Kensaku Shinohara, Susan Sgorbati, Jacob Wolff, and Stephanie Zaletel.

As a maker, his performance work, often situated within studio and gallery context, draws from improvisational practice and an ongoing inquiry into the relationships between bodies, objects, and attention. His work has been presented at the Bennington Museum (VT), the Firehouse Joshua Tree, the Geffen Contemporary at MoCA, G-Son Studios, Human Resources LA, Pieter Performance Space, REDCAT, and The Tank (NYC). In 2024, he was published by the University of Michigan for “A Society to Me: On Conflict and Intimacy Training” in Conversation Across the Field of Dance Studies, Volume 43. In the Fall of 2025, he was selected for the LA Performance Practice ACCELERATOR cohort.

Beyond his artistic practice, Wentz extends choreographic thinking into organizational and collective contexts. A full time faculty member at CalArts, he was elected Chair of Faculty for the 2024–2025 academic year, where he played a key role in guiding faculty and staff through their successful unionization with the UAW. He currently serves on the CalArts United–UAW Bargaining Committee.