Madison Ballet Awarded $15,000 by Madison Community Foundation to Increase Opportunities for Choreographers of Color
Madison, WI - Madison Ballet is honored to receive a generous $15,000 grant from the Madison Community Foundation. The grant will support expanding the organization’s opportunities for choreographers of color, serving as one way to address systemic problems in dance that have led to a lack of diversity on stages locally and nationally.
Madison Ballet is a pillar of the Dane County creative community, celebrating 40 years of inspiring Madison with the magic of dance. The vibrant arts company commits itself to providing "ballet without boundaries" by breaking down barriers to the artform throughout all facets of the organization.
With the generous support of the Madison Community Foundation, Madison Ballet aims to create new opportunities in every aspect of its organization for the encouragement, advancement, and inspiration of choreographers of color at all career levels.
Aided by the creation of a new curriculum focused on expression through dance, students will be equipped to articulate their artistic vision and gain the technical tools to actualize it on stage. The return of 2021’s successful Lift Every Voice film series will challenge emerging choreographers of color to expand their collaborative circles by including artists working in different mediums. Commissioning more choreographers to build new works that will permanently enter Madison Ballet’s repertoire will bring much-needed diversity in artistic leadership and representation to Madison’s most celebrated stages.
“By creating advanced opportunities for choreographers of color throughout the organization, we seek to build programming of artistic voices that increasingly reflect the diversity of the city we serve,” says CEO Jonathan Solari. The residual impact of these programs will expose over 7,500 audience members to the choreographers’ work.
“If anything, nonprofits have become more innovative during the COVID pandemic, pivoting to expand services and find creative ways to provide resources,” said Tom Linfield, MCF’s Vice President of Community Impact. “These agencies combine vision and tenacity as they propel our community forward.”
About Madison Community Foundation:
Madison Community Foundation encourages, facilitates, and manages long-term philanthropy. Since 1942, the foundation staff has helped people realize their philanthropic goals, allowing them to support charitable interests anywhere in the world. The community foundation also awards grants throughout Dane County to build communities. More information is available online at www.madisoncommunityfoundation.org.