Artistic Director and Choreographer
Deidre Cavazzi is a dance artist in Southern California, employed as the chair of the Dance Department at Saddleback College, where she also teaches in the Honors Humanities program and the college’s Yoga Teacher Training certification. She received her MFA in Dance from the University of California at Irvine in June of 2006, and also holds a secondary-level California teaching credential in English with a supplement in Dance. She is the founder, choreographer, and artistic director for ArchiTexture Dance Company, a contemporary dance theatre group located in Orange County. In addition to teaching and choreographing both inside and outside of academia, she worked as a marine naturalist and a science curriculum writer for six years at the Ocean Institute, and also spent four years volunteering for the Marine Mammal Center and the American Cetacean Society; she has always been passionate about the arts and sciences, and strives to connect these worlds in her work. She often invites students from her classes to join ensemble casts and be part of large scale company projects. Deidre’s work explores the relationship between the arts & sciences through interdisciplinary collaborative projects, as well as the use of space and architecture within site specific choreography; she experiments with mixed media and dance installations to create environments for art and movement. Her choreography often involves working with many people outside the dance community, and Deidre frequently meets with architects, engineers, electricians, scientists, city planners, and other visual and performing artists as she creates a new work. Deidre’s own background as a modern dancer includes study of Laban/Bartenieff fundamentals, release work, aerial dance, capoeira and yoga, and these influences are often seen in her choreography.
In addition to choreography, Deidre also frequently writes papers about architecture and dance in site-specific choreography, the importance of arts-centered interdisciplinary projects in education, and the relationships between bodies and emerging technologies. She has had the opportunity to present her work at several national and international conferences in recent years, and looks forward to continuing to explore practical and theoretical connections to art-making. She has spoken at conferences for the National Popular Culture Association, the Society of Dance History Scholars, the International Federation for Theatre Research, and Dance Under Construction.
In addition to choreography, Deidre also frequently writes papers about architecture and dance in site-specific choreography, the importance of arts-centered interdisciplinary projects in education, and the relationships between bodies and emerging technologies. She has had the opportunity to present her work at several national and international conferences in recent years, and looks forward to continuing to explore practical and theoretical connections to art-making. She has spoken at conferences for the National Popular Culture Association, the Society of Dance History Scholars, the International Federation for Theatre Research, and Dance Under Construction.
Artist Statement:
As an artist and an educator, I have always been passionate about collaborative projects that embrace and explore the relationship between art and science; I feel strongly that inquiry and creative investigation drive discovery and experimentation, and I frequently engage with projects that are cross-disciplinary, non-traditional, and that bring together diverse communities. As a choreographer I often draw inspiration from scientific concepts—bringing environments to life onstage or in site-specific locations, and incorporating multimedia to transport the audience and evoke ideas. The process of creating a work is extremely important to me; I delight in the research, experimentation, dialogue and development of community that occurs between the seed of an idea and the final curtain call onstage. Whether I am exploring concepts of quantum physics, Fibonacci numbers in nature, or climate change in the Arctic, I strive to initiate collaboration with experts in related fields, and design the movement vocabulary and technical elements of the production to best complement the subject matter, hopefully inspiring audiences to learn more; I am interested in creating art which serves as a catalyst for conversation, knowledge and connection to the natural world.