Chrystelle Lee Trump Bond (January 1, 1938 – May 6, 2020) was an American dancer, choreographer, historian of dance and educator. Born in Manchester, Maryland, she combined practical stage work with scholarship and teaching over a career that included performance, reconstruction of older dance repertory, and critical writing. Bond's activities ranged from directing a small ensemble to shaping a college program and contributing reviews and commentary to the wider public.
Career and roles
Bond was the founding chair of the dance department at Goucher College, where she helped establish curriculum, faculty hires and training that balanced technique, choreography and historical study. She also co-founded and served as director of the ensemble Chorégraphie Antique, a company noted for staging dances informed by historical research. In addition to her academic and creative work, Bond wrote about dance for newspapers and journals, serving as a critic for The Baltimore Sun and producing essays that interpreted performances and explored the context of dance practice.
Contributions to dance history and education
As a dance historian and teacher, Bond emphasized understanding dance within its cultural and historical settings. Her approach linked studio practice to archival research, encouraging students to study notation, costume, music and contemporaneous accounts alongside movement. Through choreography and reconstructed projects she demonstrated how historical material could inform modern performance without merely replicating the past.
Legacy and significance
Bond's legacy includes the institutional foundation she built at Goucher College, the performances and educational projects of Chorégraphie Antique, and a body of criticism aimed at making dance more accessible to general readers. Colleagues and students remember her for bridging academic inquiry and active choreography, advocating for the preservation and study of dance traditions as living resources for teaching and creation.
- Founding chair, dance department, Goucher College
- Co-founder and director, Chorégraphie Antique
- Dance critic and writer for The Baltimore Sun
Chrystelle Bond died on May 6, 2020 in Towson, Maryland, at the age of 82. Her work continues to be referenced by educators and performers interested in the intersections of choreography, history and pedagogy.