Christie Bondade

Christie Bondade is an assistant professor in the Division of Dance at SMU where she teaches dance history, community engagement and choreography. She is a dance artist, educator, disability justice advocate, equality activist, community mover and dance/movement therapy practitioner. Bondade earned an M.F.A. in choreography from the California Institute of the Arts, Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance and her B.A. in dance with a focus in choreography from Texas Woman’s University. In addition, she completed a three-year graduate level training program, Embodied Neurobiology, for Dance/Movement Therapy (D/MT). This specialized training has imbued her with insights from somatic psychology, current neuroscience research, creative arts approaches and expressive therapies.

Bondade’s creative and pedagogical research centers around dance movement/therapy as a vehicle for embodied exploration, care for the whole person with unconditional positive regard and promoting community engagement through the arts. Her vision is to broaden the impact of dance by harnessing its creative and therapeutic potential, forging partnerships with organizations and schools to prioritize movement and expression in education.

Bondade has developed partnerships with Big Thought and Highland Park United Methodist Church (HPUMC) – Belong Disability Ministry where she teaches dance classes to the community and supports the HPUMC Spotlight Musical Theater program. She serves on the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) Dance and Disability Committee aiming to make dance education and experiences more accessible. She presents regularly at conferences, alongside her partners at Big Thought, NDEO and the National Guild for Community Arts Education.

Bondade has performed works by renowned choreographers Robert Battle, Doug Elkins, Michael Foley, Sarah Gamblin, Adam Hougland, Larry Keigwin, John Mead, Luis Montero and Max Stone. Her work has been presented nationally and internationally. Her work is deeply rooted in collaboration and improvisation while exploring community, identity and somatic practices – connecting her work as a dance/movement therapy practitioner. Some of her noted commissioned works Mary Williford-Shade, Megan Yankee, L. Brooke Schlecte and Andrew Wojtal (Princess Grace Award Recipient).

Her artistic residencies and performances, national and international, include Feldstärke International, Rogue Festival, 254 Dance Fest, American Dance Festival, American College Dance Festival, Texas Dance Improvisation Festival, Exchange Dance Festival, Bayimba International Festival, Out of the Loop Festival, Oklahoma Contemporary Dance Festival, Eastfield College, Texas Tech University and Muscle Memory Dance Theatre.

Bondade has served on faculty at the University of North Texas, Texas Woman's University, Collin College, Eastfield College and Richland College. She holds her 200hr RYT Yoga Certification and is registered through Yoga Alliance. She served as Advertising Manager, Event Coordinator, and Interim Executive Director for the Dance Council of North Texas, a nonprofit arts organization that has served North Texas dancers for over 30 years. In addition, she creates choreography and performances in collaboration with interdisciplinary artists and has developed free programs in Dallas by engaging the community through therapeutic arts.