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Sophia Stoller is a choreographer, dance educator, and dance filmmaker. After 18 years of creating work and teaching in Los Angeles, she relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2024 to lead the Upper School Dance Program at Crystal Springs Uplands School. Sophia has presented choreography and screened films in festivals and venues in California, Washington, the UK, Buenos Aires, New York, Australia, Israel, and Bali. Notable venues include the Royal Opera House, the Walt Disney Concert Hall, REDCAT, Electric Lodge, Highways, the Fowler Museum, and Bootleg Theater. Sophia is the founding Artistic Director of Iris Company, a diverse group of artists dedicated to creating socially relevant, thought-provoking and moving experiences through dance, immersive performance, and film. Sophia often brings together artists of different mediums to create interdisciplinary work, believing deeply in the power of collaboration.
Sophia leading rehearsal at the Royal Opera House
photo: Peter Amodeo Gould
She has received numerous grants and residencies in support of her work, including the Crystal CASP Grant, PDG Space Grant, J.L. White Foundation Grant, HOTHOUSE Choreographic Residency, Cohan Collective Residency, Gabriella Foundation Teaching Artist Studio Residency, Bloo Lagoon Artist-in-Residence in Bali, and the CalArts-Earthfire Residency. Recent choreographic commissions include Whidbey Island Dance Theatre in Langley, WA and Yorke Dance Project and in London, where her work toured as part of the company's 20th Anniversary Programme.
Sophia has taught dance technique and composition at CalArts, YWCA Santa Monica/Westide, Scripps College (guest teacher), CMDC, California School of the Arts - San Gabriel Valley, Gabriella Charter School, and The Gabriella Foundation's Everybody Dance program. She was a full-time faculty member at Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences for 7 years, where she worked closely with the Dance Department Chair, Chippy Wassung, to develop and reimagine the Crossroads dance program. In 2024, she relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area to take over the upper school dance program at Crystal Springs Uplands School, where she teaches all five levels of dance and directs two dance productions each year. She holds an MFA in Choreography from California Institute of the Arts, a BA in World Arts and Cultures/Dance and a BA in Psychology from UCLA.
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​She is an award-winning director of experimental dance shorts. Her films have screened in festivals across the US and internationally. Most recently, CANVAS, a film created in collaboration with Amodeo Creative and The Third Floor, won the Audience Choice Award at the 2023 Los Angeles Dance Film Festival and the 2024 Lights Dance Festival in Seattle, WA, and the Best Youth Dance Company Award at the 2024 Inspired Dance Festival in Australia. CANVAS was additionally selected for a StandardVision Award Honorable Mention and screened on a large facade outside LA Live in Downtown LA. Sophia has been commissioned to choreograph a number of projects for the camera, including Malynda Hale's God and His Gun music video, the short narrative film You and the Moth, and Jarell Perry’s music video, Relapse.​​
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photo: Jane Bear