Noel St. Jean-Chevalier/The Legible Bod(ies)

Noel makes dance happen. She holds her BA in Dance and Biology from Goucher College and has studied at schools and festivals throughout the US and England. She is on faculty at Elms College and the Artistic Dance Conservatory, specializing in contemporary jazz technique. As a guest artist, she has enjoyed teaching and creating work for The Williston Northampton School, Ascendance Inner World Arts, Westfield High School, The Loomis Chaffee School, and the NCAA Elite 8 Dance Team among others. She is also the coach for the Elms College Dance Team and Founder/Director of the the Elms College Community Concert for Charity. As a dancer for Eclipse Dance Company, Noel has performed throughout the Northeast at events including the Boston Contemporary Dance Festival, Plymouth State Dance Premier, and the Brooklyn Dance Festival. As Artistic Director of The Legible Bod(ies) she made her choreographic premier at the 2014 Southern Vermont Dance Festival and has shown work in Boston, Hartford, and New York City. When not in the studio or on stage, Noel enjoys bringing the art of dance to Western Mass audiences as Board Member of the Massachusetts Dance Festival and as a frequent guest of Mass Appeal on WWLP TV22. Through her work, Noel has brought dance performances to events large and small, broadening community appreciation for dance and expanding the role of dance as a tool for social and cultural change. You can keep in touch with Noel and learn more by visiting noelstjean.com.

The Legible Bod(ies) is a collective of artists making dance for stage, film, screen, or anywhere people will sit still long enough to watch them.

Dancer/Choreographer Noel St. Jean-Chevalier and Photographer/Videographer Jeffrey Byrnes collaborate to create multimedia performances exploring relatable, human themes and pushing the boundaries of theater, dance, photography and film. Harnessing the unique styles of the ensemble, they produce a narrative performance rich in emotion and raw movement. The dancers’ backgrounds in ballet, modern dance, and physical theater allow for myriad combinations of style and technique, creating complexity and artistry.

The Legible Bod(ies) aim to challenge their audiences both visually and referentially.

Grants:

Holyoke LCC (2016), production funding

Easthampton Arts Trust (2016), crowdfunding competition 1st Place

Residencies:

Art Walk East Hampton (2016), 3-month performance egagment

Mill Arts Project (2016), gallery exhibition, performances, workshops