Brown Girls Do Ballet's 2022 Fall Recap

At Brown Girls Do Ballet, our goal is to amplify accessibility to the world of dance for ballerinas of color, provide financial support for college students and studio owners, and serve the Black and Brown, creative community through our many projects and initiatives. In short, we hope to make a positive difference in this world!

We created this Fall 2021 Recap to highlight our progress in our efforts, while also keeping you informed of the work with do with the help of our community of support. From scholarship updates to blog recaps, keep reading to learn what we’ve accomplished this Fall!

Related: 2022 Mid-Year Recap

Scholarships & Grants

This Fall, we were able to award several of our scholarships and grants to studio owners, college students, and dancers who’d benefit from some extra financial support. This year’s BGDB College Scholarship winners were: Sophia Cooper, Joelle Kimbrough, Solei Niusulu, and Hannah Norberto. The 2022 Dance for Change Scholarship winner was Shaniya Marshall, an aspiring pilot.

The BGDB Micro Grant is designed to increase access to and opportunity for education, travel, and professional tools for small dance programs and dancers of all ages year-round. This year’s winners were: Faith Carrillo, Tori Davis, Labiba Hossain, and Morgan Ligon.

Our Small Studio Grant, assists in the development of ballerinas in smaller dance programs deserving of additional funding to aid in their programs, was awarded to Sweet Yield Studio and the Black Frame Project.

Learn more about our initiatives and scholarships here.

Pointe Shoe Program Updates

Through our Pointe Shoe Program, we have partnered with various retailers and donors to collect pointe shoes in all shapes, sizes, colors, brands, styles, and structures. Shoes are then donated to dancers who demonstrate a need for them.

In August and September, we were able to fulfill 15 requests for pointe shoes to dancers who need them. We also hosted a Pointe Shoe Decor party in October, where Brown Ballerina Ambassadors local to the Dallas-Fort Worth area decorated old pointe shoes to be auctioned at a later date.

Giving Days & Funding

Speaking of Giving Days, each annual campaign creates an opportunity for nonprofits to receive financial support from their communities. This funding has tremendously helped support our initiatives throughout the year.

For the Give 828 giving day on August 28th, 2022, we raised over $2,500. During North Texas Giving Day on September 22, 2022, we raised about $1,200. During November’s Giving Tuesday, we set a goal to raise $30,000 to help support the Pointe Shoe Program - funding that would ensure pointe shoes are readily available to send to dancers once they apply for the program.

Brown Ballerina Blog Updates

Our Brown Ballerina Blog is filled with articles for dancers of all ages and backgrounds, with meaningful content for non-dancers as well. This Fall, we published our “Convo with a Dance Pro'' series. The series featured interviews with a choreographer, a pointe shoe fitter, a photographer, and an artistic director to provide insight on what it’s like to work in the dance industry doing other things besides dancing.

We also published articles tailored to dance teachers, such as how to facilitate good vibes in the studio, and interviews with dance teachers covering the following topics: creating opportunities for students, fighting negativity, and taking risks. Lastly, we shared content for college students who are still adjusting to living away from home. We also shared some ideal minors for dance majors to pair with their degree.

Read all of the articles, and more, here.

Related: Mid-Year Blog Recap: 2022

New Content on our YouTube Channel

Subscribe to our YouTube channel, where you can watch new episodes of Relevé and the Tiny Dancer Book Club series. Relevé is a video series featuring interviews with dancers and studio owners while also giving behind-the-scenes looks into our work and travels. Younger dancers would enjoy our Tiny Dancer Book Club, which features dancers reading short books about dancers of color.

The work that we do would not be possible without the support of our corporate sponsors, partnerships, donors, and community. We want to thank you for everything you do to help Brown Girls Do Ballet!