Brown Girls Do Ballet: scholarships available to promote diversity in dance
An organization that promotes diversity among those who participate in ballet is offering year-long scholarships to help girls of color thrive in the Fort Worth area.
Brown Girls Do Ballet is a nonprofit organization that provides resources to young dancers of color, including scholarships, mentorship, supplies, workshops, and other support to help keep them dancing. It has served over 200 dancers in the U.S. and abroad and provided over 55 scholarships since 2020 for summer programs or undergraduate studies.
Christina Brown, artistic director of Brown Girls Do Ballet Youth Performing Company, says the scholarships are underutilized and that fewer Fort Worth-area girls have used them, unlike girls from across the metroplex. The organization provides girls of color with a safe space to grow as artists and a community to lean on, Brown says.
“They’re falling in love with an art form that they’ll love well through their 80s,” Brown said.
Brown Girls Do Ballet was founded in December 2012 by TaKiyah Wallace-McMillian after her 3-year-old daughter wanted to take ballet. Wallace-McMillian saw there weren’t many girls who looked like her daughter in class, so she decided to do a personal photography project to show her daughter the diversity of Black dancers.
After helping one girl pay tuition to attend an intensive summer program, she began to expand her work through mentorship, scholarships, accepting donations of ballet pointe shoes, a supply closet, and other resources.
To be eligible for a scholarship with Brown Girls Do Ballet, girls must be between the ages of 4 and 18 and participate in four free community-wide classes at the Cosmopolitan Dance Theatre, 2924 Cleburne Road.
The scholarship will cover ballet pointe shoes, leotards, and more. The scholarships can alleviate financial constraints, making ballet more accessible and helping the girls on their journey.
Scholarships can be used for either summer intensive or year-long training. The Summer Intensive Program focuses on training in multiple dance styles while building confidence, discipline, and artistry in a supportive environment. This year, it will be facilitated by Cosmopolitan Dance Theatre staff and will take place at Victory Forest Community Center from Aug. 3 to Aug. 8.
If girls are serious about their ballet journey, those 7 and older can audition for the Brown Girls Do Ballet Performing Company, a professional performance troupe established to provide paid opportunities for talented dancers. It serves as a pipeline for college and professional dance careers.
Classes are also translated in Spanish and in American Sign Language to help bridge language barriers.
The organization also has a Brown Ballerina Junior and Youth Ambassadors mentorship program that has helped over 170 girls since 2017. Participants are located around the world, from Canada to Trinidad & Tobago, Ghana and Sydney. Girls are paired with older dancers who are on similar career tracks for a year of mentoring. They can also meet a professional dancer once a month to talk and learn.
To learn more about scholarships and Brown Girls Do Ballet, visit the organization’s website at browngirlsdoballet.com/scholarships.
