The Center for Ballet and the Arts & National Sawdust Partnership is a one-year collaboration that supports 45 appointed female, trans, and nonbinary composers and choreographers, with the aim of creating new works in the virtual medium. The program aims to help these individuals develop their skills, create and present new work, and build a community of like-minded artists that will meaningfully advance their careers.

The program will support five “Toulmin Fellows” and forty “Toulmin Creators.” Each will receive a package of financial, intellectual, and creative resources to support development of new work.

Both Fellows and Creators will be provided with professional development in the form of 20 master classes and seminars on such topics as intellectual property, improvisation, and arts criticism. They will also receive access to National Sawdust’s (NS) Digital Knowledge Hub, which will share and document NS’ extensive mentorship program to accompany its digital stage.

The Toulmin Fellows will spend the winter in residence at CBA and the spring at NS, building toward participation in NS’ Digital Discovery Festival (DDF). They will also receive mentorship from established arts practitioners and scholars who offer deep knowledge and experience in their mediums. They will provide Fellows with personalized feedback, career support, and connections to their robust professional networks.

The forty Toulmin Creators will participate in DDF and/or in seminars offered to CBA’s community of artists and scholars.

Thank you to the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation for making this partnership possible.