“YOU WERE WILD ONCE... DON’T LET THEM TAME YOU.”

- Isadora Duncan

A native of Brooklyn, NY, Chanel is a multifaceted artist whose work reflects her deep connection to the transformative power of the arts. As an entrepreneur, choreographer, director, and ARTivist she uses dance as a vehicle for social change and evolution towards a more diverse, just, and inclusive dance industry and society. Chanel is the Co-Founder & CEO of Strategy & New Initiatives for MOVE|NYC| - an arts and social justice organization with the mission of creating greater equity and diversity in the dance profession and beyond. She is also a Choreographer & Director creating new, provocative works that reflect the complexities of what it means to be human. Chanel is also the Founder & CEO of the women’s leadership and empowerment platform, CATAPULT.

After being named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts and graduating with her BFA from The Juilliard School, Chanel became a member of the highly celebrated Trey McIntyre Project, based in Boise, Idaho, where she was a muse for the creation of many of Mr. McIntyre’s works. She danced lead roles in his masterpieces Ma Maison - in collaboration with The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, The Sun Road - in collaboration with PBS's "Faces of America" series, Gravity Heroes, and Mercury Half-Life. Chanel was featured on the cover of Dance Magazine with TMP in 2011 and was a part of Brooklyn Academy of Music's "Dance Motion USA", touring throughout Asia with TMP as a cultural ambassador to the United States of America.

Upon returning to New York City, Chanel became a member of the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company and performed iconic Lubovitch works such as Coltrane's Favorites, Transparent Things, and The Black Rose. Throughout her career, Chanel has been blessed to dance and tour internationally across Europe, Asia, South America, the Caribbean, and the United States; living the life and career she dreamed of as a young girl. #DanceDidThat

In 2016, Chanel began her career as a choreographer and has since created choreographic works for institutions such as Gibney Company, The Joffrey Ballet, American Repertory Theater, The Juilliard School, Parsons Dance Company, Ballet Memphis, Dallas Black Dance Theater, The Washington Ballet, among others. Most recently, Chanel made her international choreographic debut with the premiere of a new work created for Ballet Black.

Chanel is a widely sought-after educator, mentor, keynote speaker, and consultant having led master workshops and seminars across the nation for institutions such as The Juilliard School, SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance, Harvard University, New York University, LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts, The Scottish Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, and New Orleans Ballet Association. Her work has been centered both on dance training & education, as well as professional development & career management for pre-professional dancers, and DEI strategies for Arts Leaders.

Over the years Chanel has received recognition from numerous institutions including The Joffrey Ballet Winning Works Choreographic Competition, the Martha Hill Dance Fund Mid-Career Award, a 2011 and 2023 Princess Grace Award, and the 2008 Martha Hill Prize awarded by The Juilliard School. She is a National YoungArts Winner, was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts, and was featured on the 2004 PBS Documentary “American Talent”. In 2019, Chanel received an IRNE nomination for Best Choreography for "The Black Clown" which premiered at American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA.

Chanel attributes her success and longevity in the dance field to the tribe of artists, educators and mentors that opened the doors to the dance industry for her at an early age, including the Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Center, Creative Outlet Dance Theater of Brooklyn, LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts, The Ailey School, Springboard Danse Montreal and The Juilliard School.