Community-Based Company Premiere
Photo by Arnaud Beelen
Abby Williams Chin is a choreographer, dancer, dance educator, and dance advocate who is interested physicalizing the mental gymnastics she, and many women perform to negotiate the different spaces they inhabit. She is interested in the tension in the space between laughing and crying, and uses wry, humorous narratives as a means of creating a shared kinesthetic empathy between the performers and the audience. Chin is the Founding Artistic Director of Cattywampus Dance, modern contemporary dance company founded in Chicago, Illinois.The company has participated in Chicago community dance events including See Chicago Dance’s Chicago Dance Month, Take Up Space Festival, and Dance Chicago’s Choreographer’s Showcase among others. Chin has presented her work nationally and internationally at TicTac Arts Centre, Bates Dance Festival, White Wave Dance Festival, See Chicago Dance’s Dance Month, Small Plates Dance Festival Austin and the North Carolina Dance Alliance among others. She has performed works by Sara Hook, Tere O’Connor, Roxane D’Orleans Juste, Rachel Rizzuto, and Sara Tourek. She holds an MFA is Dance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a BFA in Dance Performance & Choreography and a BA in Arts Administration from Elon University. Chin is currently a Lecturer in the Dance Science program at Texas A&M University.
IG: @abbywchin
Artists for Hope invites dancers to apply for the fourth annual Community-Based Company Premiere, featuring Abby Williams Chin
Selected dancers will have the opportunity to work with Abby Williams Chin on February 6-7, 2026 to create and perform in a premiere work at the Artists for Hope event on Saturday, February 7th, 2026 at San Jacinto College South.
Interested dancers will be asked to submit a short video audition and application before January 9. Performers must be available on February 6, 2:30-5:30pm, and February 7, 2:30-10pm, and will be notified by January 23 if selected. There is no minimum age requirement for this opportunity.
Please follow the links below to apply:
In 2025, Artists for Hope celebrated 10 years by inviting Houston native, Roderick George, and the company members of kNoname Artist to create our CBCP. Untitled featured seven amazing local dancers, set in two days- in the middle of a storm-induced power outage!
This residency was made possible by the San Jacinto College Foundation and a Student Success Initiative Grant.
In 2024 Artists for Hope teamed up with Travis Lake for the second annual Community-Based Company Premiere, which featured nine fantastic local dancers! To the East was created in 6 hours over two days, and set to an original composition by Travis.
