Paul Sanasardo, an American choreographer known for his intense and psychologically charged dance works that deeply influenced iconic figures such as Pina Bausch, died on July 23 in Park Ridge, Illinois. He was 97. His passing was confirmed by David von Ehrlicher, a longtime protégé.

Born Paolo Savori Giuseppe Vincenzo Franco di Sanasardo i Bonadonna on September 15, 1928, in Chicago, Sanasardo was the son of Sicilian immigrants Giuseppe and Francesca Sanasardo. He grew up in a large family and displayed an early passion for dance, often improvising expressive movements in the family’s basement. Originally focused on visual art, he graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1952 with a painting degree before pursuing dance seriously after being inspired by a lecture from Martha Graham.

Sanadasardo moved to New York in 1954, studying at Graham’s school on scholarship and training with other prominent figures such as Antony Tudor and Mia Slavenska. He performed with notable companies including Anna Sokolow’s from 1953 to 1956 and Pearl Lang’s from 1957 to 1965. During this formative period, he partnered with Donya Feuer to establish Studio for Dance in Manhattan, a creative hub where they produced experimental, expressionistic dance works that contrasted with the prevailing norms of the time by presenting full evening-length productions. Their 1961 piece “Excursion for Miracles” was staged over two nights and explored themes of power dynamics and human relationships through bold choreography.

Sanadasardo and Feuer’s work was notable for its psychological intensity and theatricality, often pushing boundaries with provocative imagery. In “Laughter After All” (1960), for example, performers engaged in unsettling acts such as violent gestures and cross-dressing, accompanied by canned laughter. Feuer described their creative process as a means of grappling with life itself, calling the search for understanding a “religious act.”

Their collaboration helped shape Pina Bausch’s early career. Bausch, who was 19 and attending Juilliard when she began working with them in 1959, credited Sanasardo and Feuer with providing a familial and artistic foundation that influenced her later development. She performed in their work “In View of God” (1959) and collaborated on “Phases of Madness,” a physically raw trio that prefigured the emotional intensity Bausch later became known for. After returning to Germany, Bausch founded Tanztheater Wuppertal in 1973, a company that carried forward the dreamlike and sometimes brutal aesthetic inspired in part by Sanasardo’s work.

Sanadasardo continued choreographing and performing independently following Feuer’s move to Stockholm in 1963, where she later collaborated with director Ingmar Bergman. His company, Paul Sanasardo and Dancers, featured dancers such as Janet Panetta, who later connected his legacy to Bausch’s company. His notable works include “Metallics” (1963), characterized by high sexual tension and set to an electronic score by Henry Cowell, which was later performed by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Nederlands Dans Theater.

Sanadasardo’s career extended internationally. He led the summer modern dance program at Saratoga Performing Arts Center in New York from 1969 to 1974, and served as artistic director of the Bat-Sheva Dance Company in Israel from 1977 to 1980. Upon returning to the United States, he founded another company that operated until 1986. While some of his later works took on a lighter tone, much retained the emotional sharpness that was his hallmark.

Despite frequently being associated with themes of darkness and pain, Sanasardo described himself as a happy person drawn to intensity. “It is extremes that we reveal ourselves,” he once said. After closing Studio for Dance in 1989, he returned to Chicago two decades ago and remained active in teaching and choreography until 2018.

Sanadasardo is survived by a younger brother, Vincent. Throughout his long career, he maintained a deep respect for dancers capable of sustained emotional and physical intensity, emphasizing their vital role in bringing choreography to life.