About Meshi

I am a dance maker, a movement facilitator, and a choreographer. I am a queer artist. I develop methods to fully inhabit the body, increasing sensitivity and awareness while creating a deeper engagement with the world. My practice is one of relationality. As a community builder, I bring people together through movement to experience being embodied together. I approach training through the cultivation of attention and curiosity. I work from the premise that all aspects of existence are inextricably linked and activated by the movement of a larger universal body. Engaging with this force strengthens self-understanding and allows artistic newness and possibilities to arise.

Butoh is my dance/performance practice, both improvisation and choreography. This dance form emerged from Japan at the time of the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. In its creation, Butoh pushed against Western influence dominating the region and, with it, its dance ascetic, spreading across the globe; to this day, it still does. Instead of trying to fix dance into place, Butoh seeks to unfix it and show its wild and transformational nature. It values the development of presence, spaciousness, and stillness alongside movement. Butoh is taught worldwide yet remains a relatively niche dance expression. I am one of a handful of teachers of this work in North America. I have studied for twenty years with Denise Fujiwara and our master teacher, Natsu Nakajima. Nakajima was the first female butoh dancer and choreographer.

I am a third-generation American by blood, Mexican, and Spanish. I was adopted through ceremony into Lakota Sioux traditions in my early twenties. I have been participating in Sundance, one of the seven high ceremonies of the Lakota people, for twenty-five years. Traditionally, this is not something a Sundancer speaks about; however, as I navigate the complexities of the art world, I find myself in situations where I must divulge information that requires a certain level of opacity to maintain its integrity. My participation in ceremonial dance informs how I approach life, my understanding of movement, and my place in creation. My artistic expressions are translations of an ongoing conversation with the spirit world.

I dance to illuminate our entanglement with creation’s steady and present unfolding. I shed conventional ideas of what dance should be, shifting energy toward what it is moving toward and has yet to become. The cultivation of the moving body reveals relationships between objects, space, and time. Through the rigor of practice, patience, and kindness, trust in embodiment grows, allowing instinct, creativity, and clarity to resound. This approach to choreography is how I confront colonialism and white supremacy within the patriarchal designs inherited through Western dance methodologies and amplified through collective cultural trauma. This is how I move alongside the unknown, with adaptability to the present moment and movement infused with curiosity and palpable presence.

Meshi Chavez holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of the Arts.  Through 2021 – 2023, he was Artist In Residence at Middlebury College, where he taught full-time and created artistic works. His career has spanned two decades, allowing him to teach, present, and perform nationally and internationally. His work is predicated on the concept that creativity is our birthright. Through the discipline of training the mind, body, and spirit, we learn to claim this creative force and build from there. He has taught at Schumacher College and Middlebury College, where he choreographed Dance Company Middlebury 2019-2020. His choreography has been presented at The Joan Mitchell Foundation in New Orleans. Chavez is co-founder of Momentum Conscious Movement, where he has been creating in-person and online, ongoing adult movement education programs for more than 20 years. He works internationally with author, scholar, and theologian Matthew Fox, teaching Movement as Meditation with a recent online course through The Shift Network. His mentors include choreographers Denise Fujiwara, Natsu Nakajima,  Donna Faye Burchfield, and Thomas DeFrantz. He believes cultivating creativity, strengthening curiosity, and embracing the unknown is the secret to making an artful life.

Meshi Chavez – CV

“Meshi is an extraordinary teacher who teaches with heart, head, and body and from a deep place where Spirit moves, awakens, and heals.  Students, of course, love him!” Matthew Fox

Performance

Masked & Then We Were Three –
Masked – Choreography & Performance – Meshi Chavez.
Music –  A good day to live – Composed & Performed – Lisa DeGrace
Then We Were Three – Middlebury Student Work – Spring 2022
Choreography – Meshi Chavez & Kari Borni

Lorro: of wings and seas –
The 9th Asia pacific triennial of contemporary art, Brisbane Australia — 2019
Movement Choreography – Meshi Chavez
Spoken Word – Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner
Performed – Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner

Being Moved Performance Intensive Participants 2017 –
Choreography – Meshi Chavez
Music Composed & Performed – Lisa DeGrace
Artistic Consultant/Design – Yukiyo Kawano
Performers – Mara Steen, Teresa Vanderkin, Jen Gwirtz, Nicole Walters, and Joe Mclaughlin

Suspended Moment Performance – Hiroshima Remembrance Day 2017 Choreography & Performed – Meshi Chavez
Artistic Design & Sculptural Installation – Yukiyo Kawano
Music Composed & Performed – Lisa DeGrace
Spoken Word Creation – Alison Cobb
Video Installation – Stephen Miller

Artistic Collaboration – Meshi Chavez & Winky Wheeler
Portland Art Museum  – 2015

Classes

You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.
– Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

There are several opportunities to study with Meshi Chavez. He offers weekly drop-in online classes, Audio classes, Independent Study programs, and workshops throughout the year.

Weekly Classes

Butoh Foundations offers a chance to deepen our love for dance through self-discovery and creative exploration. Each week brings a distinct experience, and I’m excited to share this journey with you. Participate in these Zoom sessions or listen to the audio-only version of the class.

Mondays – Dates: Butoh Foundations is currently on break until September. Time: 6:00 PM – 7:15 PM Pacific Time. (For different time zones, please use this Time Zone Converter.)

Sliding Scale: $25 – $15. Payments for the Zoom class or audio can be made via Venmo at @Meshi-Chavez or PayPal.Me/meshichavez.

For Audio Sessions, please inform me if you would like the Audio Link when you complete the payment for the class.

If you have any questions, feel free to email Meshi at meshichavez@icloud.com.

Receiving payment for my creations and services is crucial. Therefore, please do not share audio files with anyone who hasn’t purchased the course. Ensuring you have accessibility and access is equally important to me. I strongly believe in clear communication and honesty. If my pricing is a barrier for you, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Sunday Morning Dance

Sundays, 10 AM – 11:15 AM (PST)
$25 – $10 sliding scale

Zoom – Online class
Learn More 

Inquiry- Independent Study Program

Personalized Independent Movement Program
Deepen your practice and explore your creative desires.
Learn More 

Workshops

 

Formation/Transformation: Structure as a Pathway to Freedom – Join Meshi Chavez for “Formation/Transformation,” a dance workshop that explores the vital connection between structure and freedom. What role do precision, constraints, and frameworks play in fostering transformation? In what way does form serve as a pathway to discover liberation?

This workshop examines form, structure, and constraints as avenues for more expressive movement while encouraging improvisation, choice, and discovery. Instead of perceiving limitations as obstacles, we will explore them as creative catalysts that deepen our awareness and expand our expressive skills. Chavez will guide participants through an immersive exploration of specificity, demonstrating how disciplined embodiment can unlock new realms of creative expression.

In this workshop, Chavez will lead participants in using presence to fully inhabit each moment, emphasizing genuine discovery over polished movement. We will consider embodiment not as a final destination but as a dynamic starting point for deeper creative expression and connection.

Whether you are new to Butoh or an experienced dancer, this workshop provides a vibrant space to engage with the transformative power of dance, courage, and creativity, fostering a deeper connection with the world around you.

Meshi Chavez is a seasoned Butoh practitioner, queer artist, and MFA graduate from the University of the Arts. As a Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance at Middlebury College, his work explores embodiment, presence, and the radical potential of movement. Chavez has trained extensively with Butoh masters Natsu Nakajima and Denise Fujiwara, shaping his approach to dance as a practice of deep inquiry. His workshops create space for divergence, spaciousness, and the shedding of colonial legacies, fostering a profound connection between movement, creativity, and Queer Futurity.


Formation/Transformation: PORTLAND, OR
New Expressive Works
June 20–22 & June 27–29, 2025

Friday: 5–9pm; Saturday: 10am – 2pm; and Sunday: 12–4pm

FULL WORKSHOP BOTH WEEKENDS: $460 – $360 Sliding Scale.

ONE WEEKEND ONLY: $250 – $199 Sliding Scale.
ONE DAY ONLY: $75

Participants can choose to attend one or both weekends.
Payment Options: Venmo, PayPal, Cash, or Check

REGISTER HERE, PORTLAND, OR


Formation/Transformation: BRISTOL, VT
Open Sky Studio,  8B Main Street, Bristol, VT 05443    
July 25–27, 2025

Friday 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm, Saturday 12:30 pm – 6:30 pm, Sunday 12:30 pm – 3:30 pm. 
* A short break will be included on Saturday

FULL WORKSHOP: $225
SATURDAY & SUNDAY ONLY: $199
FRIDAY EVENING ONLY: $60
Space is limited to 20 participants
 

Participants can choose to attend one or both weekends.
Payment Options: Venmo, PayPal, Cash, or Check

REGISTER HERE, BRISTOL, VT


Formation/Transformation: SANTA FE, NM
The Railyard Performance Center, Santa Fe
August 1–3, 2025

Friday: 6–9pm; Saturday & Sunday: 2–6pm

FULL WORKSHOP: $199
FRIDAY ONLY: $45–$65

Participants can choose to attend one or both weekends.
Payment Options: Venmo, PayPal, Cash, or Check

REGISTER HERE, SANTA FE, NM


Summer Dance Camp 2025
MCMINNVILLE, OR
Meshi Chavez and Winky Wheeler,
Friday, August 8 – 10, 2025 • $275

Don’t miss this fantastic, fun, connecting, joy-filled event!                                           Join us on this beautiful private property, a green, flower-filled paradise. We will camp on the lush lawn and dance under the big sky. Join us for a magical weekend of movement, connection, and fun. We’ll enjoy delicious food and hang out together. Every day, we will dance, part-led workshop, part dance party. It’s going to be a blast! 

Don’t miss it. Truly.