Royal Academy of Dance appoints Dr. Adesola Akinleye as US National Director

The Royal Academy of Dance is delighted to announce that Dr. Adesola Akinleye will be the new National Director of RAD in the United States of America.

Akinleye will lead and direct RAD operations in USA, succeeding Patti Ashby who retired from the post in August after 23 years as director.

The RAD has a sustained and positive history in the USA, offering examinations, ballet classes and teaching opportunities for ballet students and instructors since the 1950s.

Akinleye joins the RAD with an extensive and diverse experience in the American dance industry. She is an artist-scholar, choreographer and educator trained at the Rambert Academy, beginning a professional career with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, Workshop Ensemble (DTH). After leaving DTH, Akinleye started a studio dance school in Islip, Long Island (Saltare Foundation for the Arts) that had an affordable afterschool and summer camp component for which the Town of Islip awarded her Woman of the Year 1999 for Dance.

Since then, Akinleye has worked in dance education in the USA and Canada. Adesola’s previous post saw Adesola directing the PhD in Dance Program at Texas Woman’s University (the longest-running consecutively PhD in Dance in the USA), mentoring graduate students globally.

As well as a background in dance teaching and pedagogy, Akinleye was co-Artistic Director of the community interest company, DancingStrong Movement Lab, and is a Fellow Research Affiliate with the Arts, Culture & Technology Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Akinleye’s choreographic work is community-driven and site-responsive, spanning live productions, film, and XR environments with choreographic commissions from the Hayward Gallery Southbank to the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA).

Akinleye’s scholarship contributes to the wider understanding of dance as both heritage and innovation, seeing a good dance education as part of how we build a healthy society.

Speaking of the appointment Akinleye says, “I’m thrilled to be the new National Director of the RAD in the United State of America. I especially look forward to building on the brilliant work that has been done, and to strengthening the networks of excellence and care across the RAD community in the USA.”

Elizabeth Honer, Chief Executive of the RAD says, “We are delighted to announce Dr. Adesola Akinleye’s appointment. With her exceptional experience, expertise and vision, Adesola is uniquely positioned to drive the RAD’s growth and operational success across the nation. Colleagues and I across the RAD very much look forward to working with her.”

For more information, visit https://www.royalacademyofdance.org/.

Adesola Akinleye. Photo credit Foteini Christofilopoulou