Chloe Arterberry can’t stop moving. That’s how she wound up where she is today.
Raised by her grandparents, Arterberry lived in California until she was twelve years old when the family moved to Goldsboro, North Carolina:

“My grandmother was like, ‘Oh my gosh, you cannot dance in the grocery stores anymore!’ I think it was because things seemed a little more subdued in the South than in California. They decided they had to get me into a dance class. And they were right: this is where I’m meant to be.”
“The faculty are good at letting you make mistakes, then letting you figure out how to get back on your feet after you make those mistakes. That’s allowed me to get comfortable in the uncomfortable. I’ve grown so much here.”
Arterberry’s practice is based on interdisciplinarity and improvisation. She says that’s one of the things that drew her to UNCG:
“It’s my jam. I love improvisation, and I love understanding the body as well, which is why I was really interested in doing the Pilates certificate program while pursuing my dance degree. Once I started working in the program, I started to understand the inner mechanisms of the body, so that it translated into my improvisation and my movement research in general.

“UNCG Dance is so good at finding ways to implement other art forms into the work that we do. At our recent Fall Dances concert, we had live musicians and seating in the round which sort of forces the audience to be in it with the dancers. Knowing how other artists are working and how to incorporate other art forms into my work has been a benefit to my choreography. The faculty allows you to be more than just a dancer. Of course there is focus on technique, but importance is placed on being your whole self, not just your dancing self.”
While at UNCG, Arterberry was excited by the many opportunities:
“One of my favorite things that I’ve gotten to do through UNCG is the American Dance Festival through an audition-based scholarship. The festival gives dancers access to world renowned choreographers and dancers. Through those connections, I’ve had so many other opportunities beyond UNCG.”
Another favorite experience was the American College Dance Association (ACDA) performance:
“I was with a piece that was selected to go to ACDA, then made it past adjudication to perform at the gala. It was such a beautiful experience because I’d been working with these people for so long. We’ve been in rehearsals for an entire semester. When we performed it, it was like, ‘Oh, we did it.’ It was beautiful.”
But by far, the best part of Arterberry’s time at UNCG was the day-to-day connection:

“I know pretty much everyone in the dance program and we’re all kind of up in each other’s business every day. I feel like I touch at least one person every day. It’s a very connected community. We truly do care about each other because we’re in each other’s works. We dance with each other and feel each other’s energy. And if someone is off, we ask if we can help. It’s true support and love everywhere you go.”
Arterberry plans to take that feeling of with her after graduation:
“My goal for the rest of my life is to dance. That is literally it. To be a part of the community, to share in the community, to share the community in general with people that aren’t already in it. I’d like to travel and see what the dance community looks like in other places, Europe or South America. I’m definitely going to spend time in New York. I’ve been auditioning for a number of companies, but I’m not intent on staying in just one place for too long. There’s so much to see.
“Eventually I’d like to have my own choreographic residency. Actually, I’ve started to play around with that. I would like it to be called Barefoot Bravery. It would be a collective where dancers could come together and make work and support each other.
“My best advice for students today is to be open-minded. My ballet teacher, Marielis Garcia, always talks about how in ballet it’s not good for us to be so rigid. She says bridges are built to have a little give so that whatever wind blows, it won’t blow the whole bridge away. And I think about that a lot, like having a little bit of malleability so that I’m able to move things and be like, ‘OK, that’s not for me, but I’ll try this or I’ll try that.’”
Story by Terri W Relos
Photo credit: Brandon Demeryhttps://vpa.uncg.edu/dance/

