INTERVIEWS
"We are so lucky that we get to work in an environment that is creative and new and challenging and pushing boundaries."
CAMERON BASDEN
"The dancers all know each other,
I think that's very special and
unique to Chicago"
Chicago's unique dance community
Cameron Basden joined the Joffrey Ballet in 1993 and moved to Chicago with the company in 1995. She was a muse for Gerald Arpino, performing in several of his ballets as well as those of many other choreographers. She became ballet master and served as co-associate director until her departure in 2008. She was the Director of Dance at Interlochen Center for the Arts from 2009 to 2012. Cameron is on the Board of Directors of the Gerald Arpino Foundation and lives in Miami.
​
August 28, 2016: Newberry Library
"It’s a fine line between pushing the envelope and pushing a dancer into an area that perhaps they haven’t been before and making them go further to get to a place."
Restaging vs. Setting new works
"With [Gerald Arpino] it was a much more movement oriented process, [Robert Joffrey] was usually more methodical."
Arpino and Joffrey as choreographers
"I didn’t have to do the- ‘I’m retiring from ballet to be a Master’,
it just happened.”
Becoming Ballet Master at the Joffrey Ballet
"When I saw the place and I saw the potential of what could be done there, it just sort of said ‘you must come’."
Joining Interlochen
JOIN THE MAILING LIST
All images and video on this site are the property of Chicago Dance History Project.
To request permission to use these materials, please contact CDHP.
Full interview videos and transcripts also available upon request.
© 2024 Chicago Dance History Project