If you’ve wandered past the Lang Performing Arts Center studios, you have most certainly run into bubbly and welcoming Chandra Moss-Thorne, dance senior lecturer. Since 2015, Moss-Thorne has played a key role in fostering the growth and accessibility of ballet in the Swarthmore dance department. Spending an afternoon with her, I asked about her pedagogical approach, artistic inspirations, and experience at Swarthmore.
Moss-Thorne’s dance experience is extensive, stretching back to early childhood. She reminisced, “I don’t remember not wanting to dance, but I think the spark was an episode of Sesame Street.” In high school, Moss-Thorne danced at The School of Cleveland Ballet, then studied at Butler University, graduating with an honors B.A. in dance pedagogy. After college, she became a professional dancer, performing with the Dance Theater of Harlem, Cincinnati Ballet, The Cincinnati Opera Ballet, and The Washington Opera Ballet. Throughout her dance career, she always knew she wanted to teach. With that, Moss-Thorne began her first teaching job at the Cincinnati Ballet while in college. After leaving the D.C. stage, she shifted her focus to teaching. She taught at Goucher College, Towson University, Bryn Mawr College, Stockton University, and Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. Additionally, she was a guest artist at local high schools and pre-professional summer intensives.
Back when she was an associate professor in performance, Moss-Thorne and Swarthmore Associate Professor of Dance Olivia Sabee created the “Pointe and Partnering” class, with the goal of approaching ballet from “multiple perspectives,” combining pointe and partner work. Moss-Thorne emphasized supporting dancers with limited experience and significant embodied information alike. “It’s fascinating to me how dedicated the students were, how this [department] has grown and how we have looked at the needs of the student body and the interests of the student body.” For example, “Pointe and Partnering” provides a learning experience for everyone to engage with. Students can alternate roles in class, which involves supporting a peer and being supported from exercise to exercise. These opportunities are uncommon among most pointe and partnering classes outside of Swarthmore. Moss-Thorne explained, “Additionally, Olivia and I implemented the protocol for all dancers, regardless of their skin tone, to wear flesh tone tights and shoes. We provide support for choosing the correct tights, footwear and make-up application.”
As a whole, the dance department has exponentially grown. “As I begin my 10th year,” Moss-Thorne added, “it is exciting to be on faculty as we transition from a program to a department. Currently we have three Dance Studies courses running simultaneously, full Dance Lab courses, a guest choreographer working in the African Diaspora, and a Cooper Series that facilitated a collaboration between a professional modern company and Swarthmore Taiko students.”
In short, the range in classes offer a multifaceted approach to engage with dance. Maintaining small class sizes and high levels of movement for experienced dancers became the next challenge. One possible solution Moss-Thorne noted was to take on different forms. She added, “Dancers entering with significant ballet or modern training are engaging with a variety of forms. They’re not siloing themselves to ballet or modern,” noting the unique diversity of dance classes offered through the dance department.
“The first thing for me,” she noted, “would be that everyone realizes that they belong, they should be there, and that there is a place for them. Within that, how do I move beyond the words that there’s a place for them with actions, with how I’m helping to curate the community? I was fortunate to have educators throughout my journey who were supportive, challenging, and cared for my growth and artistic development. Oftentimes, people, including myself, have been marginalized. They’ve not felt welcome, they’ve felt like this was an exclusive experience, or they’re on the periphery, even if they’re in the space.”
When asked about the most difficult aspect of teaching, she said, “When I rely on my intuition for how to supportively challenge someone, sometimes that can be a little bit risky. Especially in the beginning, they can only hear my words because they haven’t seen my words in action. Ballet is approached differently here than how some people may have experienced it … That is a challenging aspect of how people unlearn. How do people trust me and our approach? Ballet, dance, is so personal and intertwined with who you are. How do I go on this journey with someone and show them that they can trust along the way?”
During her time at Cleveland Ballet, Moss-Thorne began to take note of teaching practices that she wanted to incorporate into her own pedagogy. One aspect that stuck out to her was the requirement of injured or sick dancers to observe class and take notes rather than skip the class entirely, as ballet classes have historically required. To Moss-Thorne, this was her “foundation for looking at dance from a different perspective.”
Staying true to her philosophy, Moss-Thorne introduced a learning opportunity called “Barre Buddies” upon coming to Swarthmore. Essentially, it is a chance for students at the barre to observe and be observed by another student. Both peers give positive and critical feedback to improve their technique. To her, “it addresses the fact that everyone has information to offer, finds success through different ways of learning, and that I also have a position and responsibility to learn. Hearing how someone else shares feedback makes me a kaleidoscope, challenging me to have more layers to my teaching.”
On guiding students to their next step by advancing through levels or into Ballet Rep, Moss-Thorne emphasized her open-door policy. “I think having early conversations on what students are interested in and how they want to engage with dance, specifically the courses I teach at Swarthmore, is extremely beneficial. [Additionally], having the pre-req requirement for [Ballet Repertory] to be in Ballet III provides a supportive and accessible trajectory. Over the course of an academic year I teach Ballet I, II, and III. This enables me to work consistently with the students. I am in conversation with Ellen [Gerdes, assistant professor], Olivia [Sabee, associate professor], and Maggie [Zhao, visiting assistant professor] once a week regarding the ballet courses. We discuss opportunities for growth for individuals and the community, share pedagogical practices, pertinent academic readings, and relevant experiences off campus.” She noted that the requirements are also a “tangible goal” for students, assisting them with their development.
When it comes time to plan and choreograph a performance, Moss-Thorne uses studio time to craft “moments of solos, duets, leadership roles in different ways.” She emphasized, though, that she doesn’t “have a muse. I don’t generate movement and think, ‘this is only for a particular person.’ I hear music, I see the movement. I consider what that will require. Usually, I have everyone learn different phrases and observe how those phrases are interpreted by the dancers.”
Rather than focusing only on the technique, she values “the essence of dance,” meaning self-expression. “It’s my job to help teach technique. But I also investigate dancers who I see sparks [emitting from], but [are] maybe hesitant to have that spark show.” A successful performance, to Moss-Thorne, is more about trial and error — “effectiveness and success are after each rehearsal not reserved for a single performance.”
Outside of the classroom, Moss-Thorne noted how she has students create and direct their own performances. “I worked with Reina [Jones ’27] and Ellen [Stewart ’27] when they were first starting Ember [Dance Company],” she noted. “I’ve also gone to R&M [performances]. If I’m on campus, I try to pop in and see a rehearsal. I want to encourage those things that don’t have to live in these siloes … I offer opportunities for off campus performances. There’s just different ways that I try to support them from behind the scenes.”
On the importance of dance, Moss-Thorne commented, “[there is] value [in] having studio practice, academic, and theory courses integrated into all types of learning. [Dance] is not solely a physical experience.” Moss-Thorne added, “We can have meaningful discourse,” around broader historical issues and challenges, “then consider, dance is ours and how we are moving it forward in an informed way.”
Though there are countless treasures in the department, Moss-Thorne’s favorite aspect about the Dance Department would be “how the humans show up in the department,” ranging from excited energy to quiet inquisition. “How everyone, [students and colleagues alike], commit is pretty impressive. Everyone engages in diverse approaches. It elevates my personal expectations … and I think the students can see we value showing up as who you are.”
Regarding how the dance department impacts the Swarthmore’s student body, she responded, “a student has the ability to be in a chemistry class in the morning, a dance studies class in the afternoon, and learning ballet repertoire in the evening. Not only [do] they have that access to an embodied practice, but that access to something intangible, something that can feed their soul. Through communication with people who are not connected in the dance department — whether it’s major, minor, or a single course, in dance studies or studio practice course — just the possibility of integrating dance with other interests at Swarthmore is intriguing and necessary.”
On a final note, one piece of advice she would give new students is simply, “Trust yourself, trust the educators in the room, trust your peers, trust the reason why you signed up.” “Trust what brought you into that experience,” Moss-Thorne added, “and do not shy away from any of it. Go in as open, as vulnerable as possible, because you can trust the room. You will be profoundly and positively impacted having dance as part of your journey.”
Swarthmore offers a uniquely attentive, welcoming, and extensive dance program. If you’re interested in supporting student dancers from Moss-Thorne’s Dance Lab II course, attend the Fall 2025 Dance Concert on Friday, Dec. 5 and Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025.
