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As a child, Chelsea’s dream was to be a ballerina, and for many years, she took classes at Ballet Arts (now Boulder Ballet) in Boulder, Colorado. Then one summer, while still in high school, Chelsea happened upon the autobiography of film legend, Lana Turner. Though she’d always been interested in the art of film, reading this book sent her into the “classics section” of her local video store, which would pique Chelsea’s interest in film even more.

Chelsea decided to study film production at the University of Colorado at Boulder where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in film studies. While there she shot films on Super 8, 16 mm, and various video formats, as well as exploring documentary, narrative, and experimental forms of filmmaking. This broad curriculum has continued to influence and enhance her work through the years.

After graduating she spent the next year assisting her former professor and mentor, Marian Keane, teach film studies classes at CU. Realizing that teaching would be the ideal accompaniment to her filmmaking, she went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She has taught at several colleges, including Bennett College in Greensboro where she taught filmmaking to young women, some of whom were interns on Strength and Beauty. Her films have played in various festivals throughout the United States and across North Carolina on television.

While Chelsea’s love of ballet is a frequent topic for her films, which often explore the visage of the dancer, she did challenge herself to write a script not involving ballet. This resulted in her first feature film, Drowning Slowly, which won best narrative feature at the Ava Gardner Film Festival in 2009.

After completing a film sans ballet, Chelsea was ready to immerse herself in her first love by creating a documentary about the lives of ballerinas. She was fortunate to find a true connection with North Carolina Dance Theatre, which opened its doors to Chelsea and introduced her to the three amazing women in Strength in Beauty. Though Chelsea never achieved her childhood dream of becoming a ballerina, with this film she pays tribute to the beautiful art of ballet and the ballerinas who perform it. To learn more about Chelsea’s filmmaking visit: chelseawayant.com