Profile

Feldenkrais Method® Training Coordinator for Dance at UO
Areas of expertise: Modern Dance training and performance, pedagogy, program development, dance science, Feldenkrais®

Dr. Chatfield began his career in movement during the early 1970’s in Boulder, Colorado, USA where he studied Tai Chi Chuan and served as Master Ch’u-Fang Chu’s teaching assistant prior to earning his BA in Dance at the University of Colorado in 1975. He toured internationally with the Nancy Spanier Dance Theatre of Colorado and co-founded the award winning Verve Dance Co. Inc. He earned an MA in Dance in 1984 and a PhD in Exercise Science and Curriculum Development in 1989 both from the University of Colorado, Boulder. In 1986 he accepted a full time teaching position as Assistant Professor of Dance at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. He has been in the Department of Dance at the University of Oregon since 1989. At UO he has served as Director of Graduate Studies from 1992-2006, he designed and implemented an MFA in Dance in 2000, and he is currently serving as the Feldenkrais Coordinator between the UO Department of Dance and training programs accredited by the Feldenkrias Guild® of North America (FGNA). As the Feldenkrais Coordinator in Dance, he supports UO student participation in accredited Feldenkrais training experiences at UO that can be used to earn credit to become a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioners^CM. He has served as the Executive Director of the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science since 2001.

Dr. Chatfield’s teaching and research integrates esoteric and practical aspects of artistic creativity and scientific knowledge. His interests include choreography, teaching practices, neuroscience in dance, and program development. Current projects and publications focus on neuromotor profiles of good dancing and optimal neuromotor training practices. His publications appear in the Journal of Dance Medicine and Science, Dance Research Journal, the Journal of Dance Education, and Impulse: The International Journal of Dance Science, Medicine and Education.

Dr. Chatfield sits on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Dance Medicine and Science and the Review Board of the Journal of Dance Education. He serves as a reviewer for Research in Dance Education, the Journal of Dance Medicine and Science (the official journal of the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science), the Journal of Dance Education (the official journal of the National Dance Education Organization), and Gait and Posture (the official journal of: the Gait and Clinical Movement Analysis Society, the European Society of Movement Analysis in Adults and Children, Società Italiana di Analisi del Movimento in Clinica, and the International Society for Posture and Gait Research).