Chell Parkins

Chell Parkins is a Teaching Professor and Arnhold Director of Dance Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education. She holds an EdD in Dance Education from Columbia University (2023), an MFA in Dance from the University of Texas at Austin (2012), and a BA in Dance and Acting from Washington University in St. Louis (1994). Her research focuses on culturally responsive dance programs for Latinx communities, leveraging technology to enhance educational equity and advocacy.

Her work includes the documentary WanderlustDance: Puerto Rico, which explores post-Maria Puerto Rican identity through dance and interviews. Parkins has served as a scholar-in-residence at Ballet Hispánico and guest lecturer at institutions globally, including Oregon Health & Science University. She co-founded the first stand-alone dance major program at Middle Tennessee State University and directed a Maymester abroad program in Guatemala.

• Grants/Awards: Shirley Chisholm Trailblazer Award (2021), Arthur Zankel Urban Fellowship (2020)
• Advocacy: Led Tennessee dance education policy initiatives as executive director of the Tennessee Association of Dance and core member of ArtsEd Tennessee
• Choreography: Over 25 works internationally, including site-specific performances in Spain and Northern Ireland

Parkins integrates technology into dance education, using social media and digital tools to engage marginalized youth. Her teaching philosophy emphasizes embodied cognition and feminist pedagogy, fostering global citizenship through dance.