MoBBallet Symposium Hosted by Boston Ballet and Walnut Hill

MoBBallet Symposium Hosted by Boston Ballet and Walnut Hill

“MoBBallet is drafting a new blueprint for ballet by addressing its existing issues 360°,” said Theresa Ruth Howard, former ballerina, diversity strategist, and founder of the digital legacy project Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet (MoBBallet.org), and she is bringing her singular educational experience to the Boston area. Slated for August 4-10, 2024, the MoBBallet Symposium will be held on the Walnut Hill Campus in Natick, and both Walnut Hill and Boston Ballet School will act as hosts for the MoBBallet’s third in-person convening.

Howard’s intention for the symposium?

…To build a model for what the dance community could and should be. Each person who enters is asked to be an active citizen and a co-collaborator in creating the culture we want to exist in the field. The result? A space that is equitable, centers and sees everyone’s humanity, and is truly healing, transformative, and one that everyone can own because we made it together.”   

The MoBBallet Symposium Ballet Course, with tracks for advanced and intermediate dancers, is singular because it provides elite training for Black-identifying dancers from ballet professionals who look like them, and it provides one-on-one mentorship and coaching along with courses on personal development. Howard carefully pairs dancers and mentors to create meaningful relationships that last well beyond the week-long conference, with the intention of matching an aspiring artist with someone who helps them feel seen, nurtured, and supported in their artistic journey. 

Facilitated by world class choreographers Donald Byrd (Spectrum Dance Theatre Artistic Director) and  Robert Binet (National Ballet of Canada, Director of Artistic Development Programs, Chorographic Associate) , The Pathways to Performance Choreographic Program (PTP) is designed to identify, cultivate, and mentor Black choreographers working in the ballet idiom and give our advanced dancers the opportunity to gain experience in a choreographic process. Pathways 2022 Fellows Portia Adams and Meredith Rainey were commissioned by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet to set works on the Aspirant students and the company respectively. PTP was awarded a Winter Pillow Lab residency at Jacob’s Pillow and will present an evening of works by Black choreographers at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater and at Jacob’s Pillow in July 2024.

The Dance Educators and Scholars Forum is an extension of Howard’s development of the Cultural Competence and Equity Coalition (C2EC), a learning community of ballet organizations. It convenes dance educators in divergent educational spaces (conservatory, studio, academia), which are vital aspects of our artistic ecosystem. This historical, intellectual, and artistic forum will focus on shifting the culture of ballet training by developing a lens and practice that centers I.D.E.A., cultural competence, and students’ personal development and humanity. MoBBallet is currently accepting proposals for papers, workshops, and digital presentations from scholars on a variety of topics including anti-racist and inclusive pedagogy, decolonizing ballet/curriculum, Black dance archives and history, and aesthetics in ballet training. Because aspects of the conference will be hybrid in nature, a limited number of presentations will be virtual. The deadline for proposals is July 1, 2024. For a full list of topics and further details on submitting papers, visit the submission website. C2EC members are invited to attend the Symposium to further explore how ballet companies and leadership can change the culture of ballet. 

This is a full circle moment for MoBBallet, as it has enjoyed a long relationship with Boston Ballet, having worked together during the Equity Project: Increasing the Presence of Blacks in Ballet, a three-year program funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and as an inaugural member of C2EC. The Symposium on the Hill is a continuation of that relationship and work, as it focuses on supporting and advocating for Black ballet dancers and choreographers, examining dance education practices, and creating meaningful conversations with dance academics, along with engaging ballet leadership to address the racial and cultural issues in ballet.

“The arts have been a cultivator of more civilized societies for generations, and students have always represented the best of our future potential. Boston Ballet is proud to partner with Walnut Hill on the 2024 MoBBallet Symposium to actively bridge these aspirations to advance Black student, dancer, choreographer, and teacher experiences in the performing arts arena for generations to come.” –Boston Ballet School’s Managing Director, Dave Czesniuk.

For more details on the Symposium on the Hill, please visit the MoBBallet SYMPOSIUM landing page, or follow #Symposiumonthehill.

MoBBallet Symposium, Image credit MoBBallet