Introducing Maddi Cashio

Maddi Cashio is a performer, choreographer, and instructor based in the Lafayette and Baton Rouge regions. Her artistic journey began as a full-time trainee at the Joffrey Ballet School in Texas. She earned a BFA in Performing Arts from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She continued her studies with Gibney Winter Intensive, SALT Contemporary Dance Festival, LED Dance Company, and Doug Verone. She’s had the opportunity to choreograph and perform in Ten Tiny Dances this past fall. She has also worked with Gina Aswell (Every Place Ever Lived), Paige Barnett (Holy Animals), and Brian Stevenson’s Regenerative Beings Dance Company in Dallas. Over the past year, Cashio has served as an artistic coordinator, producing and directing showcases such as HereAfter, Conduit, and the dance film MidCity Jazz.

Currently, Cashio is a co-founder of GroCo-llective, a dance collective focused on GROwing COmmunity and artists seeking to cultivate dynamic and innovative opportunities. She is also a co-director at Core Dance Center, coach for Notre Dame High School dance team and involved in Basin Arts’ Dance Lab Creative. Where she will present a work progress this coming spring!

Who makes up your art circle?

The people I surround myself with on a daily basis make up my art circle. The co-founders and co-directors that I endlessly collaborate with, loved ones that have continuous support for me and my students that remind me to be curious in the art.

How do you expand your art circle?

I am the co-founder of GroCo-llective, a dance collective focused on GROwing COmmunity and artists seeking innovative opportunities. We strive to bridge the gap for rural artists hungry for a space to further develop their craft in a flexible, inclusive, and collaborative environment. This May, we will be producing a collaborative GroCase with artists from the Lafayette and Baton Rouge regions. Our goal is to connect the communities in the basin to expand our art circle.

What value do you see in having a creative community?

Having a creative community is what keeps me engaged and connected with not only myself but the fundamentals of art. There’s a constant, transformative, and robust flow of energy that intertwines itself through creative community members to form glorious connections.

How does your artistic approach contribute to your community?

My artistic approach is through collaboration and adaptation. I strive to be adaptable within creation and collaborate within my community in order to form a connection for the performer and/or viewer. In my approach, there’s always an open invitation for expression and manifestation to my community.

Our weekly Art Circle series profiles artists throughout the community and is sponsored in part by Lafayette Visitor Enterprise Fund, managed by Lafayette Travel