“I know that I’ve hit the magic spot when sense that I’m no longer on a stage, but among the audience, and there’s no separation between us.”
I was born to perform.
Although an introvert as a child, being on stage gave me the freedom to be whoever I wanted to be. I’ve traveled all over the world and am comfortable in almost any kind of space: from someone’s home, to an amphitheater in Greece, or a military gymnasium.
Chocolate Heads Movement Band
Chocolate Heads is an interdisciplinary dance performance troupe that nurtures creative expression in young performers and creates immersive experiences for audiences.
Watch the Chocolate Heads Documentary below:
A Student Performance Ensemble Like No Other
Hayes founded the Chocolate Heads Movement Band at Stanford University in 2009, a contemporary re-imagining of a dance company to train and present talented performers and artists of many styles and traditions.
The troupe performs at the Bing Concert Hall and the Cantor Arts Center on the Stanford Campus, and was featured during Stanford’s Centennial Celebrations.
Choreography
“I see choreography not purely through the lens of dance. I think of it as the art of how we move through time and space, and what moves us - what guides our actions. I am equally interested in both.”
Hayes began her career in choreography in the mid-1990’s, founding her own eponymous New York dance company while teaching at Princeton University.
She draws her material from everyday movements, as well as from arts and sports, translating them into styles ranging from the vernacular to the formal, from the street to the classical. Her skill as an observer, and sensitivity as a communicator have brought accolades across multiple genres, venues, performers, and audiences.