Local Folks: Avis Chen Boulter

Following in the footsteps of the beloved “Dancing Doctor” George Trotter, Dr. Avis Chen Boulter keeps the tradition of dancing, doctoring and community service alive.

She currently serves on the board of directors of Jacksonville We Care, an organization founded by Trotter with love.

She is also on the board of Community Nutcracker, serves as secretary of the UF College of Medicine, and is an interviewer on the UF College of Medicine Medical School Committee. Chen Boulter is active in supporting pediatric oncology and has been performing in The Community Nutcracker since 2001, an organization that has donated more than a million dollars over its 34 years to various nonprofit organizations.

Trotter was instrumental in founding Community Nutcracker and performed the role of Herr Drosselmeyer for more than 25 years. Chen Boulter has performed numerous roles in the Nutcracker, including premier roles as Spanish, Flowers, Mirlitons, and Snow. Since 2018, she has played the mother, Mrs. Stahlbaum, in the party scene alongside Chris McGill as Father Stahlbaum.

Pliés, grand jetés and performance rehearsals from the age of five take a toll on a dancer’s body. After studying with Pofahl Studios, Chen Boulter was a soloist with Gainesville Civic Ballet in her youth (now Dance Alive National Ballet), then trained locally with Mark Spivak, Natasha Sokol and Dulce Anaya.               

Although Chen Boulter has stepped back from classical performances such as “Swan Lake” and “La Bayadère,” which require rigorous pointe work, her love of dance finds a creative outlet with ballroom dance: She loves to tango and flamenco.

 “Ballet has brought me the greatest joy, but flamenco is so fun and dramatic,” said Chen Boulter. “It also has beautiful costumes, jewelry, and headpieces.”

As a member of Flamenco de la Costa, Chen Boulter performed with the group at her dance-themed birthday party, at Amelia Island Dance Festival, and recently for overjoyed Prima Ballerina Dulce Anaya and residents at Anaya’s retirement home. Chen Boulter performed in several ballets for which Anaya was artistic director and competed in First Coast Dancing with the Stars in 2022.

This indefatigable dancing doctor is a “double Gator,” having received her Bachelor of Arts and medical degree from the University of Florida. Somehow, she found time to compete in and win Miss University of Florida and Miss Alachua County, as well as competing in Miss Florida pageants. Retiring in 2023 after practicing as a pediatric anesthesiologist at Nemours for 30 years, she pursues her “pastimes” dancing, drawing and photography. Chen Boulter enjoys traveling, especially to see her grown children: Alexis, who is finishing her fellowship in pediatric hematology and oncology in Pennsylvania, and her son Bryan, who lives in New York City and is working on another degree in healthcare.

Dancer Ted Shawn remarked, “Dance is the only art of which we ourselves are the stuff of which it is made.”

Dr. Avis Chen Boulter was born to dance. She has the “right stuff” and shares her love of creative expression, dance and community service throughout Jacksonville.