Shannon Chmelar (pronounced ku-mel-er) is a dancer and the founder of Dance Composers Umbrella, commonly referred to as DCbrella.
WHAT IS DCBRELLA?
“The biggest misconception is it is a dance company. It’s not a dance company. It produces concerts for independent artists. It constantly has new artists coming in or going out. I just wanted to perform and help others do it and before you know it, a community was built.”
HOW WOULD YOU CHARACTERIZE YOUR WORK?
“I’m considered a hybrid performance artist by the public but I consider myself a dancer.” Her modern dance pieces incorporate movement without music, improvisation and spoken passages into a homogeneous blend.
WHO DOES YOUR WORK APPEAL TO THE MOST?
“I’ve had a really strong response from visual artists, writers and musicians. I’m not exactly sure why but I have an inkling that it may have to do with their educational background. On the other hand, dancers have an education that is not rooted at all in experimental compositions.”
BEHIND THE SCENES
“I build my own work. Images start compiling over time and I record them on paper. It may require a few weeks rehearsal or none at all. I’ve created over 20 original works in Jacksonville but only five major pieces. I love my process now.”
MAJOR LEAGUE
“Major pieces have a central theme of stream of consciousness. They’re about the exploration of self. I don’t deal with social issues; my work is very much about healing. It’s minor if it’s built around someone else’s request. I have to jump out of myself and find that balance.”
SEEING THE LIGHT
“There are various levels of consciousness you reach while performing. I started using my performance ‘muscle’ and now it has become a mystical experience. Before I didn’t have a sense of self within my craft. Then I had an enlightening experience during a performance and tapped into my core and everything else has flowed from there.”
WHAT MESSAGE ARE YOU TRYING TO SEND?
“All my work is about the nature of ‘I.’ I’m always exploring what I’m going through at that particular point in time. I have a storehouse of work that begs to be made. The most interesting part is that I don’t consciously go about constructing. My subconscious or higher place of wisdom is flowing through me. I perform them having an idea where they’re taking me but not completely. Sometimes it takes weeks or months after I perform it to understand what the work was really about but it always makes sense.”
LATE BLOOMER
“I started dancing seriously when I was 16. I was taking ballet with Stephen Shew; he was a soloist with American Ballet Theater in New York City. I got my physical foundation from him. I expanded into the modern genre when I went to college at Bennington in Vermont. I studied modern technique, composition, collaborative and video performance. It [the school] is very post-modern, avant garde.”
WHY BECOME A DANCER?
“In the past, the image or the idea I found extremely pleasurable. Now it’s not about liking it or not liking it. I have to do this to fully be. It opens me up to new vistas within myself. It is a channel of self-exploration that nothing else I have ever experienced can come close to — nothing.”
WHAT IS MOST CHALLENGING?
“It’s hard taking what’s within the mind’s eye and crystallizing it. What’s most challenging is finding dedicated and devoted performers. Work ethic among dancers in this town is extremely rare. If they’re not getting college credit or getting paid $200 an hour, it’s really hard to find them.”
WHERE HAS SHE PERFORMED?
The Loft, a downtown residence that’s being converted to Boom Town Theater, Brooklyn Arts & Design Center, UNF Robinson Theatre, Czigan & Rummel Gallery and Bolero’s Dancesport and Wellness Center, where she also teaches dance. “I started tapping into desires Jacksonville couldn’t fill — to finish my education, to perform where I could be reviewed by a national publication.”
HOMETOWN
Frankfurt, Germany.
VAGABOND
A military brat, Chmelar spent much of her youth traveling the world with her family. She moved here in 1998 and performed for the first time in Jacksonville in 2000.
RESIDENCE
Chmelar lives in Orange Park with her parents and sister.
DAY JOB
Between gigs, Chmelar handles administrative tasks, sales and helps build portfolios for artists at the spiller vincenty gallery on the Southbank.
WHEN THE DANCE SHOES ARE OFF...
Chmelar enjoys power yoga, sipping on coffee and drawing free-form sketches. An admitted bookworm, she confesses she’ll collect books before buying toilet paper. Her favorite novel is “Marriage of Sense and Soul.” Other pleasures include watching “Six Feet Under” or eating at the Blue Ben Diner in Vermont.
— by Monica Chamness