As she brings A Shadow Work to the UK, the New York choreographer talks about therapy, ‘pulling up women with me’ and art-led activismChanel DaSilva has always been a dancer. “I felt completely free,” she says of her first class. “I felt at home. Like I was doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing. And it’s weird to know that at the age of three.” The New Yorker, 38, is a rising star choreographer in the US, with credits including Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet, and is about to make her international debut in London.DaSilva’s dance style has been described as “technique meets humanity”, in the sense that she draws on the precision and virtuosity of classical and modern dance, but brings in a freedom and naturalism. The piece she has made here for the company Ballet Black, called A Shadow Work, is in part about dealing with grief over the death of her mother when DaSilva was 19. At the time, trying to get through her college education, she couldn’t cope with it. “So I packed up that g...
Choreographer Chanel DaSilva discusses her dance style, which blends technique with humanity, and her piece "A Shadow Work" for Ballet Black, inspired by grief and the shadow self in psychology. She reflects on her focused training at LaGuardia High and Juilliard, and her artistic risks, including her 2018 piece "Public/Private" addressing Donald Trump's rhetoric. DaSilva also touches on her experience of sexual abuse in the dance industry and her commitment to creating a more equitable arts world.
