Chelsea Hilding
Assistant Professor of Dance
- hildingc@wfu.edu
- Scales 207B
- 336.758.5554
- MFA in Choreography, University of North Carolina Greensboro
- PhD in Dance (ABD), Texas Woman’s University
Chelsea Hilding is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Wake Forest University and a Ph.D. Candidate in Dance at Texas Woman’s University. She holds an MFA in Choreography from UNC Greensboro. Her research examines ballet pedagogy in relation to archival practices, physical culture, and the entanglements of eugenics and dance education in the early twentieth-century United States. She has presented nationally and internationally including the Dance Studies Association, CORPS de Ballet International, and the National Dance Education Organization. Hilding is also collaborating with B.J. Sullivan to co-author the first manual on Safety Release Technique.
Her teaching emphasizes collaboration and student agency, integrating somatic awareness, historical inquiry, and inclusive pedagogy across ballet and contemporary technique. Beyond her university role, Hilding has held positions in choreography, arts administration, and community engagement. She has served as Company Manager for Gibney Company, Artistic Director of Braided Light Dance Project, Resident Choreographer for the St. Augustine Ballet, and founder of Screen Door Dance Room, the first adult-centered studio in Jacksonville, FL.
A former company member of Jacksonville Dance Theatre, Hilding now serves on its Board of Directors and on the Advisory Board for Obremski/Works in NYC. She is also certified in Pilates, Yoga, and Progressing Ballet Technique, which inform her holistic and student-centered approach to training and pedagogy.
