MINDLEAPS USES DANCE TO SUPPORT MARGINALIZED CHILDREN ACROSS AFRICA

Founded in 2014, MindLeaps is a nonprofit organization that deploys dance to support street kids and other marginalized children in locations across Africa and the Balkans. Not only did the organization receive significant attention thanks to their partnership with ballerina Misty Copeland, but the tools they use demonstrate the way that dance can be an effective means to expand the horizons of young people who face serious financial and educational obstacles in their lives. We chatted with Executive Director Rebecca Davis and International Coordinator Eugene Dushime to learn more about the organization. Continue reading MINDLEAPS USES DANCE TO SUPPORT MARGINALIZED CHILDREN ACROSS AFRICA

BRINGING THE INTERNATIONAL TO THE DUTCH NATIONAL BALLET JUNIOR COMPANY

Almost exactly a year ago, Ernst Meisner had agreed to be interviewed for an article to appear here on Ballet Rising to discuss a tour that the Dutch National Ballet Junior Company would take in Indonesia, but in the intervening time between arranging the interview and it actually happening, the world went into lockdown. Unbeknownst to Meisner at that time, the Junior Company’s Indonesia tour would serve as a year-long farewell to in-person international performances for the Dutch National Ballet Junior and main companies. Continue reading BRINGING THE INTERNATIONAL TO THE DUTCH NATIONAL BALLET JUNIOR COMPANY

CHOREOGRAPHER CONFRONTS THE TUNISIAN GOVERNMENT ABOUT STEREOTYPES OF DANCERS

For Nawel Skandrani, a dance leader and cutting-edge choreographer in Tunisia, the Covid-19 lockdown has brought episodes of financial uncertainty but also time to explore and to reflect. It also gave her clarity about her leadership role in strengthening the Tunisian dance community into the future. Taking time away from the stage has given her renewed energy as an advocate for dancers to the Tunisian federal government. Continue reading CHOREOGRAPHER CONFRONTS THE TUNISIAN GOVERNMENT ABOUT STEREOTYPES OF DANCERS

BALLET BRINGS JOY AND LUNCH TO KIDS IN SOUTH AFRICA’S TOWNSHIPS

Zama Dance School was founded in 1984 in Gugulethu, a township in South Africa, with the goal of using ballet to build confidence among young children in South Africa living under apartheid. Ballet Rising’s contributor Lindsay Alissa King recently interviewed Zama Dance School’s director Andrew Warth about what the school and its students are up to today. Continue reading BALLET BRINGS JOY AND LUNCH TO KIDS IN SOUTH AFRICA’S TOWNSHIPS

BALLET IN CAMBODIA

In 2012, British-born dancer, choreographer and teacher Stephen Bimson founded the English Ballet Theatre Cambodia in Phnom Penh. A former student of the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in London, Bimson moved to Cambodia permanently in 2011. Today EBTC boasts a full staff and a growing community of students. In this interview, we talk with Bimson about why he started the school, what attracts his students to the school, and what his goals are for the future of the art form in Cambodia. Continue reading BALLET IN CAMBODIA