chelsea hilding
about
Chelsea Hilding, M.F.A. (she/they), is Assistant Professor of Dance at Wake Forest University and a Ph.D. Candidate (ABD) in Dance at Texas Woman's University. Her research examines ballet pedagogy, dance history, archives, and embodiment, with particular interests in the cultural and historical forces that have shaped ballet training.
Chelsea holds an M.F.A. in Choreography from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her work "Correcting Bodies: Eugenics Rhetoric and Twentieth Century Ballet Manuals," has been published in Dance Chronicle and she has presented research at the Nordic Forum on Dance Research, the Dance Studies Association, Corps de Ballet International, the National Dance Education Organization, and other national and international conferences. Chelsea is a 2026-2027 North Carolina Dance Festival Artist in Residence.
Prior to Wake Forest, Chelsea served as Company Manager for Gibney Company, Artist in Residence for St. Augustine Ballet, and a company member and board secretary with Jacksonville Dance Theatre. She holds certifications in Balanced Body Pilates, Progressing Ballet Technique, and RYT-200 yoga.
Title: Excerpts from "Try not to make ballet a vehicle for political ideas," (Ambrose 1954)” (2024)
Choreography: The Dance-Artists and Chelsea Hilding
Music: AGiftFromTodd, Vinny Marchi, Beatrice Dillon, Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, Anna Meredith, Cecile Believe, Eyelashes!, Km Gordon
Dancer-Artists: Ashlyn Hall, Liz Anderson, Emily Neely, Elena Redman, Desmond Wiley
Try Not to Make Ballet a Vehicle for Political Ideas emerged from a place of rage. Taking its title from a common refrain that art should remain apolitical, the work asks what it means to make dance in a moment shaped by political conflict and uncertainty. Rather than offering answers, the piece insists that dance has always been political, whether or not we choose to acknowledge it.
Title: Section 2 from 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 Faculty 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.
Title: 7.5 x 9 (2018; 2024); 7x5 (2025)
Choreography: Chelsea Hilding
Music: Caroline Shaw and Attacca Quartet; Caroline Shaw played live by Dr. Rachel Keplin Gladen
Dancer-Artists: Emmalee Bradley and Julie Peebles; Student from WFU
These works explored themes of restriction and confinement through a physically constraining, cube-like space. 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. Live music by Del Ward.
