CHELSEA HILDING, M.F.A.
she/they
ABOUT
Chelsea Hilding, M.F.A. (she/they) is a Lecturer at UNC Greensboro, Adjunct Professor at Wake Forest University, and a Ph.D. Candidate in Dance at Texas Woman’s University researching radical ballet pedagogy. Chelsea's research involves using classrooms and studios into creative laboratories where dancer-researchers explore dance as both a flexible art form and a means of social connection. With an emphasis on experiential learning, they encourage students to see themselves as both artists and engaged citizens, discovering how movement can enrich our understanding of the world and show us new ways of moving through it.
Chelsea holds an M.F.A. in Choreography from UNC Greensboro. Supported by the [Wo]Mentoring in Graduate Education grant at TWU, Chelsea’s work includes projects such as “Anarchist Ballet Pedagogies” and “Correcting Bodies: Eugenics and 20th Century Ballet Manuals,” which examine intersections between ballet tradition and social ideologies. This blend of history, education, and choreography aligns with their desire to create spaces in dance that value inclusivity and critical thinking.
Their professional background includes a variety of roles—Company Manager for Gibney Company, Secretary of the Board Directors and former dancer with Jacksonville Dance Theatre, Ballet Mistress of the St. Augustine Ballet, and founder of Screen Door Dance Room. Chelsea’s work with B.J. Sullivan on Safety Release Technique reflects a collaborative interest in contemporary movement practices that support each dancer’s physical well-being. Chelsea also holds certifications in Pilates (Balanced Body University), Progressing Ballet Technique, and RYT-200 yoga.
Title: setting the stage (2024)
Choreography: The Dance-Artists and Chelsea Hilding
Music: isomonstrosity
Dancer-Artists: Riley Caligan, Rosie Carratello, Jamison Cole, Aubrey Conrad, Emily Craig, Ashlyn Hall, Addison Helton, Anna Joyce, Hailee Mitchell, Christina Motley, Adrienne Powell, Kaitlyn Ray, Elena Redman, Grace Wiggins, Annie Young
This ballet piece, opening the UNC Greensboro Fall Concert, was crafted to build community among artists of diverse backgrounds and ballet experience, featuring a cast of both university dance majors and community members. As the first work in the concert, its purpose was to introduce a shift in audience perspective, preparing viewers for the immersive, in-the-round staging of the subsequent performance, which intentionally challenged traditional viewing expectations.
The spatial dynamics of this piece move from the familiar proscenium stage to an all-encompassing in-the-round format, encouraging audiences to reimagine their role as spectators. In addition to altering physical perspectives, the choreography engages ballet as an open theoretical framework, suggesting that, beyond a codified technique with a single “truth,” ballet offers boundless possibilities for exploration. This deliberate ambiguity invites viewers to embrace the unknown, opening themselves to the work’s interpretive fluidity. In doing so, they experience ballet as human, and the process of encountering art as inherently dynamic, enriched by diverse perspectives.
Title: 7.5 x 9 (2018; 2024)
Choreography: Chelsea Hilding
Music: Caroline Shaw and Attacca Quartet
Dancer-Artists: Emmalee Bradley and Julie Peebles
The dance work 7.5 x 9, performed at the Weatherspoon Art Gallery, explored themes of restriction and confinement through a physically constraining, cube-like space measuring just 7.5 by 9 feet. This compact dimension, referenced in the title, required the dancers to adapt their movements, as the space disallowed them from standing fully upright or extending their limbs to full reach. The choreography pushed the performers to confront the limits of their physical boundaries, creating a powerful visual metaphor for constraint and resilience. By navigating this confined area, the dancers embodied the tension between movement and restriction, transforming limited space into a site of expressive adaptation and discovery.
Title: Sample from Ballet is Women (2022)
Choreography: Chelsea Hilding and the Dancer-Researchers
Music: System of a Down, Beyoncé, Yaeji
Dancer-Researchers: Chloe Arterberry, Aubria Battle, Jonah Carrel, Grayson Kelsch, Clara Kennedy, Camille King, Lydia Pate, Emily Wooters
In Ballet is Women (2022), dancer-researchers engage in duets with historical figures, bringing archival materials and oral histories to life through embodied interaction. This brief excerpt from the hour-long work reimagines the ballet canon through a queer and feminist lens, challenging the conventional view of ballet as a fixed form. The dancer-researchers’ duets with historical dancers emphasize that women have long been at the forefront of ballet's evolution, shaping its inclusivity and driving change. Through these intergenerational exchanges, Ballet is Women underscores women’s enduring influence and agency in transforming ballet and creating possibilities for systemic change within the art form.
Ballet Bash was a ballet improvisation jam based on a haiku score, inviting participants from the School of Dance at UNC Greensboro to explore and connect through movement. Designed to foster community and embrace the diversity of expression within ballet, the event highlighted the art form's capacity to transcend tradition and celebrate individuality. By combining the structure of ballet with the openness of improvisation, Ballet Bash created a space for shared exploration and appreciation of difference.
