Flora Chatwin received her training at The Studio, School of Classical Ballet from a young age.  She attended summer intensive programs at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, and was a member of Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre Petite, Junior and Senior Companies.  As a Senior Company dancer, she was featured in diverse repertoire.  She danced as the Arabian Princess, Marzipan, Lead Snowflake, Spanish, and Dewdrop Fairy in “The Nutcracker” and as one of Two Swans in “Swan Lake Act II.”  Flora worked with choreographers Eva Stone (creating a featured role in “Lavender”), Debra Rogo (dancing the lead in “La Volonta”) and Nashson Marden.  She was the soloist in Robert Kelley’s “Pivot,” and danced several roles created especially for her in his contemporary choreography, which were performed at Regional Dance America Festivals and SCBT In Concert performances.  

Flora’s interest in choreography started early.  As a company dancer, she choreographed several new works, two of which were selected for performance at Regional Dance America Festivals.  Flora was named Associate Choreographer of SCBT for the 2019-2020 season.  She flourished with the opportunities to choreograph several new dances and scenes for “The Nutcracker,” as well as new pieces for the Santa Cruz Symphony Family and Children’s Concerts.  Flora participated in a summer Choreography Course led by Eva Stone in 2020.  Flora created all new site-specific choreography as part of the Creative Team for the Santa Cruz Nutcracker: Clara’s Dream film.  She scouted filming locations, participated in Nutcracker auditions, led rehearsals for all of the dancing scenes, and contributed to the score arrangement.  All of her choreography was created with social-distancing protocol in place and had to be finished quickly, as she was set to relocate to Irvine for college in September.

In tandem with her own training and choreographic pursuits, Flora also attended several Teacher Training Courses led by Diane Cypher and worked at The Studio first as a substitute instructor, and in her last year of high school as a member of the resident faculty.  When The Studio shut its doors due to the pandemic, Flora was on hand to lead Zoom classes with the youngest students throughout the summer, keeping a sense of normalcy in their lives.

Flora currently attends UC Irvine as a Dance Major, and The Studio is thrilled to welcome her back on our faculty this summer, teaching Choreography classes to our intermediate and advanced dancers.