Joffrey at the Harris: Matters of the Heart

About Chanel DaSilva

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Chanel DaSilva 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 toward a more diverse, just, and inclusive dance industry and society. DaSilva is the Co-Founder and 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 and director creating new, provocative works that reflect the complexities of what it means to be human. DaSilva 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, DaSilva became a member of the highly celebrated Trey McIntyre Project (TMP), 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. DaSilva 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 for the United States of America.

Upon returning to New York City, DaSilva 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, DaSilva 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.

DaSilva is a widely sought-after educator, mentor, 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 and education, as well as professional development and career management for pre-professional dancers, and DEI strategies for arts leaders.

Over the years, DaSilva has received recognition from numerous institutions including The Joffrey Ballet Winning Works Choreographic Competition, the Martha Hill Dance Fund Mid-Career Award, a 2011 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, DaSilva received an IRNE nomination for Best Choreography for The Black Clown which premiered at American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

DaSilva attributes her success and longevity in the dance field to the tribe of artists, educators, and mentors who opened the doors to the dance industry for her at an early age, including those at 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.

About Annabelle Lopez Ochoa

The Belgian Colombian Annabelle Lopez Ochoa is a prolific, award-winning, and sought-after choreographer who has created more than 100 works for 81 dance companies around the world. A versatile choreographer, Lopez Ochoa creates regularly within the dance field but also for theater, opera, and musical theater. Her wide-ranging body of work includes short conceptual pieces, full-length narratives, and dance films. Lopez Ochoa completed her dance education at the Royal Ballet School of Antwerp. After a 12-year career in several European dance companies, such as Djazzex, and the Scapino Ballet where she danced as a soloist for seven years, Annabelle decided in 2003 to focus solely on choreography. That same year, she was hailed as the “rising star of the Dutch dance scene” (NRC), and only seven years later the Temecula Performing Arts Examiner wrote, “Ochoa is truly a masterful choreographer with an edge for what dance can and should be in this constantly changing industry.” She has been creating new works and new forms ever since and is also frequently invited to teach.

Annabelle is one of the world’s busiest choreographers (as suggested by Wendy Perron, Dance Magazine 2016). In 2006, she imagined a dance for the celebrated Dutch fashion designer Viktor & Rolf's project at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Between 2005 and 2015, as a member of the dance-theater collective Fantasten, she created physical theater plays that have been performed in numerous theaters and festivals throughout the Netherlands. In 2016, the Jacob’s Pillow Summer School invited Lopez Ochoa to join the faculty as a guest contemporary choreographer, and classical ballet choreographer in 2018. In 2019, Lopez Ochoa was appointed as the program director of the Contemporary Ballet Summer Intensive of the School at Jacob’s Pillow. Annabelle was appointed artist in residence at Ballett Dortmund in Germany starting in the 2025–26 season. She will share the position with choreographer Edward Clug under the direction of ballet intendant Jaš Otrin.

During the height of the pandemic, Lopez Ochoa pioneered remote choreography and dance film creations premiered online. In total, she has created 22 dance films. Her online work has attracted significant attention — publications including Dance Magazine, Pointe Magazine, Backtrack, TV5 Monde, and Dance Gazette have interviewed Lopez Ochoa about her new dance films and the developing genre. In 2023, Lopez Ochoa’s notoriety led to her invitation as a judge on the TV show The Greatest Dancer of Vlaanderen. The show aired on Belgian National TV for nine episodes in February and March 2023.