“I strive to create work that sparks transformative experiences”
I’m Noelle Kayser, a Chicago-based, locally and nationally commissioned choreographer, director, actor, dancer, and sound designer. I am the inaugural resident choreographer for Open Space Dance, a 2024 Whim W’Him Choreographic Shindig Recipient, and the 2025 BalletX Choreographic Fellow. As a dancer I’ve performed works by Ihsan Rustem, Robyn Mineko Williams, Alice Klock, and Wen Wei Wang among many others. I’ve served as a guest Ballet Mistress at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and was the founding rehearsal director and dancer for PARA.MAR Dance Theatre (2022 Dance Magazine Top 25 to Watch). As an actor, recent accolades include the 2024 Jeff Award for Best Ensemble in The Penelopiad at The Goodman Theatre and co-starring in Death in the Desert, which won Best Short Drama at the Breckenridge Film Festival. I am also a proud Springboard Alumni.
While all of my disciplines inform and build on each other, choreography is my primary focus and the lens through which I explore the human experience. Through dance, I distill complex ideas into physical form, using movement as a medium to connect the individual to the collective, the personal to the universal. I believe in dance's unparalleled ability to forge connections and cultivate empathy—between individuals, within communities, and with the environment, playing a significant role in how we grow and mature as a community. Through both linear and non-linear narratives, I engage with personal and collective histories, to unpack questions dealing with identity, existence, and connection.
“I believe in dance's unparalleled ability to forge connections and cultivate empathy…”
My creative process begins with immersion—through research, observation, reflection, and critical conversations to broaden my perspective. In the rehearsal process, I then channel these ideas into movement, sound, and space, using interdisciplinary practices to break apart and reassemble the narrative. I value and center my collaborators' individual artistic voices, lived experiences, and technical expertise as we actualize the work. Through collaboration with dancers, artists, and the public, I allow the creative process to unfold organically, where emotions and ideas evolve into something tangible. I work primarily, but not exclusively, on female/femme narratives with female/femme collaborators. In my experience within the concert dance field female/femme bodies and voices are undervalued and underrepresented given the proportionality of available talent—it is my mission to bring our perspectives and physicality to the forefront.
Through choreography, I engage with contemporary issues, draw on interdisciplinary practices, and maintain a deep commitment to fostering both personal growth and communal understanding. I use choreography as a modality for the viewer and performer to reflect on who we are, how we relate to each other, what we want to preserve as we move forward, and what we want to leave behind. It is my purpose to create transformative experiences that provoke introspection and result in a deeper understanding of interconnectedness in our increasingly digital and individualistic world.
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Noelle Kayser’s professional career began in 2011 at Luna Negra Dance Theater with an apprenticeship under the direction of Gustavo Ramirez Sansano—where she performed the company's repertoire domestically and internationally. In 2013, Noelle joined glo, an Atlanta-based collaborative performance platform founded by Lauri Stallings. Other credits include the Proia Dance Project, Erik Thurmond’s Ripple, Gathering Wild, The Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and Scrap Theater Group's one-woman play Leda (title role).
Noelle was a member of Visceral Dance Chicago under the direction of Nick Pupillo from 2015 through 2018. While at Visceral, Noelle had the opportunity to perform works by Marguerite Donlon, Danielle Agami, Kevin O’Day, Alice Klock, Stephanie Martinez, and many others. Noelle was a member of Northwest Dance Project under the direction of Sarah Slipper from 2019 through 2020. While at Northwest, Noelle had the opportunity to perform works by Sarah Slipper, Wen Wei Wang, Ihsan Rustem, and Patrick Delcroix. Noelle has also performed with Benjamin Wardell’s The Cambrians, Fly On A Wall (ATL), Open Space Dance (PDX), LED (Boise), and The Lyric Opera (CHI). In addition to dance, Noelle has narrated 16 audiobooks for Listen Up Productions / audible.com, co-starred in ‘Death in the Desert’ a short film written and directed by Anna Long, and appeared in industrial advertising for Grey Television, Kitchenaid, and Whirlpool. .
Noelle was the founding rehearsal director, dancer, and administrator for PARA.MAR Dance Theatre under the direction of Stephanie Martinez until the spring of 2023. AT PMDT, Noelle performed works by Jennifer Archibald, Robyn Mineko Williams, Helen Simoneau and Stephanie Martinez. Noelle was the assistant and repetiteur for Ms. Martinez for her creations on PARA.MAR Dance Theatre, Cincinnati Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, BalletX, Tulsa Ballet II, Bruce Wood Dance, South Chicago Dance Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and Cerqua Rivera Dance Theater.
Noelle has choreographed for Ballare Carmel/Carmel Dance Festival, Boykin Dance Project, Cerqua Rivera Dance Theater, Chicago Dance Crash, COMMON Conservatory, Dance in the Parks, DanceWorks Chicago, Hedwig Dances, Kit Modus, Moonwater Dance Project, Open Space Dance, SALT LINK Choreography Festival, SALT2, Visceral Dance Chicago, and Visceral Dance Chicago Trainee’s. Her piece for Kit Modus - The Excursion: Realized - was named one of 2018’s Highlights of the Year by ArtsATL. Noelle was the assistant choreographer for Lyric Opera’s Carmen in 2023. Noelle was the Ballet Mistress and the assistant choreographer for the Lyric Opera’s Jenufa in 2024.
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Open Class
Follow @noellekayser on Instagram to stay up to date on pop-up classes and Chicago Movement Collective contemporary series dates.
Solo Commission
YAGP, Audition, Competition
$750. Final quote adjusted per length of commissioned solo and number of rehearsal hours required. Rehearsal space must be arranged and provided by the dancer.
*Sliding scale and payment plans available.
Private Lesson
$75/hr. Coaching in ballet, contemporary, modern, and improvisation. Studio space must be arranged and provided by the dancer.
*Sliding scale available.