Chavasse Has All the Right Moves

Author: Chris Grosso

The title of artist-in-residence projects an image of an individual who excels in a certain discipline. This honor suggests talent, creativity, passion and dedication. Middlebury College is fortunate to attract these artists and give them the opportunity to share their knowledge and experiences. For the past four years, the College's Dance Department has had the privilege of hosting Amy Chavasse.

A native of Raleigh, N.C., Chavasse has been successful in her field and looks to make an even larger impact. Her performing career includes work with Laura Dean Dancers and Musicians, Bill Young and Dancers in New York City and many independent projects across the country. The director of Chavasse Dance & Performance, a solo artist, a choreographer and a professor, Chavasse has made an indelible mark on the campus, as well. She teaches an array of dance classes, yoga and deep stretching sessions, advises the Riddim dance troupe and has introduced a class on the history of political dance. Her enthusiasm and devotion has definitely rubbed off on her students.

Last week, The Middlebury Campus had the opportunity to chat with Amy and learn about what inspires and nourishes her creativity.

The Campus: When were you introduced to dance?

Chavasse: I danced when I was very young. Starting, like a lot of kids, at three or four: jazz, tap, ballet - kind of the typical after school stuff. [Doing this] seriously but never thinking I was going to be a dancer because I was involved in a lot of other things, mainly horseback riding and tennis. At some point, I guess when I was around 13 or 14, I had to choose because I couldn't split my focus up between these activities. Dance was the first to go, oddly enough. I didn't dance at all from 15 until I went back to college. I was around it because I had a younger sister who danced, and I come from a very artistic and athletic family. My mother and older sister were trained singers. So I was always cursorily aware of it, but not involved in it.

The Campus: How did you get back into dancing?

Chavasse: I was actually an art and English major in college and I needed a P.E. credit, so I went in to take a dance class. It was a type of modern dance class. It was very emotional. I couldn't believe it. I thought it was really great. So I started taking a lot of dance classes. I was doing all my other work independent study so I could be in the dance studio. Then when I was within a year of getting my degrees in art and English, I transferred to a conservatory, the North Carolina School of the Arts.

The Campus: You earned your M.F.A at the University of Washington in Seattle. What persuaded you to go back to grad school after dancing professionally for some time?

Chavasse: I was living in D.C. at the time and I was an adjunct faculty at George Washington University. The woman who had hired me there told me that if I liked to do this, I would have to go back to school. But then I was dancing professionally for 12 years. I had toured all over the world. At that time, dancers needed graduate degrees to get a job in academia. Up until then, your experience in the field had always been sufficient. There has been a lot of debate about that in creative art academia.

The Campus: What was the transition like from professional dancer to teacher?

Chavasse: I tried to maintain a life where I would keep a foot in both doors - professional and academic. I started taking similar positions to this one, like guest artist. I was also trying to maintain my own performing career. Recently I have [acquired] a company.

The Campus: I read on the Internet that you are director of the Chavasse Dance and Performance Company.

Chavasse: My younger sister, who is an actor/writer by training and profession and I in 1995 collaborated on a piece. Shortly after that I decided that I wanted to start a company. So I founded the company with her, and I got my non-profit status in '98. I have a core group of dancers that I have been working with. We've gotten scattered, though. I've been here for four years - the longest time I've been anywhere for quite awhile. The company has a great group of people, though. Hopefully this will be the year when I will try to figure it out.

The Campus: How would you define your style of dance as a performing artist and choreographer?

Chavasse: The word postmodern is often used to describe the work of artists of my generation. I'm interested in theater dance in the way I'm interested in bringing some sort of narrative to dance. I use text often and my sources often come from things that I read or texts that I find particularly compelling. Last year, for the Cuba Project, I was working with a piece I had actually started quite a long time ago, based on the paintings and life of a Cuban-American Juan Gonzalez. During my time in New York, I got to know him quite well. He was a very successful artist who passed away in '93. His family and the gallery were very generous about me using his images. One of the pieces, "Death, Beauty, and Flying," was based on my time with him and his work. As a companion piece to that, and being interested in Latin American art - visual art and also literature, I started reading Reinaldo Arenas. I settled on "Farewell to the Sea," a very short, bizarre and abstract dream-like story. The second piece, which is called "The Fruit Axiom," accompanied it. These were the two pieces we took to Cuba. They show that other forms of art are moving.

The Campus: Who has inspired you as an artist?

Chavasse: When I was dancing in New York, there was one teacher who pushed me quite a lot in class. She made me understand how feeling vulnerable and scared and being in places of uncertainty were very important to be a creative and artistic person. It wasn't about being in control, which is a terrifying thing to learn. It wasn't about gaining certain facilities or learning how to do this step really well or getting your leg higher - those were the mechanics of it. She made me almost feel like I didn't know what I was doing anymore. It was a remarkable approach. After the company I was working with at the time in New York was mentioned in The New York Times, I remember being in the class. She noted, "You're starting to figure it out a little bit." That was kind of a turning point.

The Campus: How has your time with Gonzalez affected your career?

Chavasse: Definitely my time living with Juan Gonzalez was influential, watching his dedication and passion and his compositional tools. The deliberation of choosing each thing and focusing on that so intently, I began to see how important it was to devote that much time and energy to every decision or choice.

The Campus: What about at Middlebury?

Chavasse: Since I've been here, Peter Schmitz, my colleague who just retired last year, has inspired me. Certainly along the way there have been people I collaborate with, my students and peers. Every project makes you see things in a different way. It makes you challenge yourself. The idea of pushing edges for artists is important and finding a new way to say what has already been said.

The Campus: Now you have the role as teacher. How do you share your love for dance with your students?

Chavasse: I try to embody the things I believe in and be myself. I push them the way I was taught. I try to be supportive and challenging. Later in life, I realized it is helpful to watch the way your instructors move through the world - what happens to them when they are doing what they love.

The Campus: Thank you very much. I'm looking forward to seeing your performance.

Amy will be performing a solo in "Paul Matteson and friends: In Concert" on Nov. 7 and 8. She has choreographed the 5th Annual New Comer's Piece, which will be presented on Nov. 21 and 22 at "New Dances: a Fall Dance Con
cert."