FREDERICK GAUDETTE began his life as a dancer/artist near his hometown of Salisbury, MA with his first tap class where as he puts it, “They gave me shiny patent leather tap shoes, and for one hour a week let me run around and make as much nose as I could; I was hooked.” From that point on dance has played a critical role in his life as a means of sharing and expressing life and its many journeys. He went on to earn his BFA in Dance Performance from Stephens College in Columbia, MO before moving to Seattle, WA to begin his professional career with Spectrum Dance Theater.
It was in his second year with SDT where an event happened that would change the course of his life and his artistry profoundly; this was his meeting with Donald Byrd the incoming and current director for SDT. It was through his two years of work with Mr. Byrd that Frederick found a new love and understanding of dance as well as the discipline, intelligence, and energy behind the work itself.
Following those two years, while recovering from injury, he went on to serve on the teaching faculty of the Washington Academy of the Performing Arts where he found his love and gift for being “in the front of the studio” teaching/coaching/and directing rehearsals for the academy’s students.
Frederick now lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area where he has worked with numerous artists in the area, most recently with Enrico Labayan (LabayanDanceSF) and Ronn Guidi (Oakland Ballet) which has continued to broaden his love, curiosity, and understanding of dance as a vital art form. As we engage with the art form as students, teachers, dance artists, dance makers, and spectators dance can be the pulse that drives us to and through our own evolution as people and cultures. He strives to make dance available to all those who have a desire to experience, understand, learn, and enjoy the visceral, kinetic art that is dance.
