Our vision: In a just world, everyone can experience the beauty and power of dance.
—The Misty Copeland Foundation
A Message From Misty
Misty and a BE BOLD student at Boys & Girls Club: John E. Grimm Clubhouse
Happy Summer!
We wrapped up our spring semester earlier this month. BE BOLD was held at 14 sites, and 16 BE BOLD classes were given Monday through Friday, as well as one Saturday class. We taught 268 children—243 girls and 25 boys—and employed 27 teaching artists and 16 musicians. You will read more below about the wonderful ways BE BOLD classes celebrated the end of their semester.
I’m so happy that we also provided five opportunities this spring for our students and their caregivers to attend performances by some of the world’s most acclaimed dance companies. You’ll learn more about that later in the newsletter, too.
Program evaluation continues to be a cornerstone of the BE BOLD program. Sindy Folgar, the BE BOLD Program Director, conducted site observations and evaluations throughout the semester. Dr. Gess LeBlanc, a developmental psychologist, also conducted site visits to observe BE BOLD classes, led small student focus groups, and discussed impact and student engagement with partner site staff members. By conducting such rigorous evaluation, we can continue to improve our program to meet the needs of our children, teaching artists, and site partners.
We conducted nine Professional Learning Sessions for our teaching artists: six with Dr. LeBlanc and three with Dr. Cooper, a DEIA Specialist. These sessions help our teaching artists better support the diverse learners in their classrooms.
An outcome of our Year I Impact Survey was the need for our site managers to gather to exchange resources and ideas on best program practices and student impact during the spring semester. Sindy and Dr. LeBlanc met with 12 site directors and managers at the end of April. It was a wonderful meeting, and everyone agreed it should happen at least twice a year.
We have made tremendous gains this semester, from the work of our teaching artists and the new musicians from the Manhattan School of Music, who have seamlessly joined the classes, to the number of site visits conducted. I’d like to give a warm welcome to James Gandre, President of Manhattan School of Music, who has joined our Advisory Council. We have come a long way! I want to acknowledge the hard work of BE BOLD Program Director Sindy Folgar, who has made so much of this possible.
Lastly, I’m thrilled to invite you to the MCF 2nd Anniversary Event, which will take place at the Manhattan School of Music on Thursday, September 19, 2024. Check your inbox for the Save-the-Date notice that was e-mailed last week. You’ll have the chance to see a BE BOLD class in action. I hope you can join us!
Best wishes,
Misty
BE BOLD Families Experience World-Class Dance
BE BOLD students from Madison Boys & Girls Grimm Clubhouse, BE BOLD teaching artists, and ABT Studio Company dancers. Bottom left: DTH Artistic Director Robert Garland, Misty Copeland, and BE BOLD teaching artists preparing for the DTH gala performance. Bottom right: BE BOLD students from the Bronxworks Carolyn McLaughlin Community Center attend the Ballet Hispánico.
A vital part of the Misty Copeland Foundation’s work is developing new audiences for the performing arts, particularly among families of color who typically lack access to professional performances. In spring 2024, MCF invited BE BOLD children and their caregivers to five unique performance opportunities by internationally renowned dance companies.
Chief among these was the Dance Theatre of Harlem’s gala, which honored Misty Copeland with the Arthur Mitchell Vision Award. The performance included a piece created by DTH Artistic Director Robert Garland and set on the Dance Theatre of Harlem Company and School, with a special tribute to Misty Copeland featuring BE BOLD Program Director Sindy Folgar and BE BOLD Teaching Artists. This was truly inspiring to our BE BOLD students, who were excited to see their teaching artists performing in their BE BOLD shirts on stage to enthusiastic applause!
BE BOLD children and their caregivers also enjoyed performances by Ballet Hispánico and Limón Dance Company. An ABT Studio Company rehearsal showed our BE BOLD students firsthand the dedication and hard work it takes to be a professional ballet dancer. The ABT Studio Company created a special program for this rehearsal, which included a session for our BE BOLD students to ask their burning questions about all things dance. The children had the chance to meet ABT Studio Company Artistic Director Sascha Radetsky and the dancers. In late June they attended an ABTKids Family Matinee, a one-hour performance designed to introduce young audiences to ballet hosted by Misty Copeland.
We look forward to more extraordinary experiences with our families throughout the remainder of 2024 and beyond.
Springing Up BE BOLD Style!
Misty Copeland, Advisory Council, and Teaching Artists at our June workshop.
OurBE BOLD teaching artists are the program’s lifeblood. These extraordinary dance instructors and musicians inspire and guide children by building supportive relationships and a welcoming dance classroom for all.
To support our teaching artists’ efforts and encourage peer-to-peer learning, Sindy Folgar and Dr. Durell Cooper, MCF’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility consultant, held a team-building lunch in April. The teaching artists discussed their classroom experiences and shared with each other best practices for helping and motivating the students.
A day-long workshop for teaching artists was held on June 15. Sessions included a guided reflection on lessons learned during the spring semester and a framework review beforeBE BOLD’s summer program begins. Misty Copeland, Sindy Folgar, and Advisory Council member Monica Stevenson, Director of Preparatory Dance, University of North Carolina School of the Arts led the workshop. Also attending were our Advisory Council members Robert Garland, Artistic Director, Dance Theatre of Harlem School; Deborah Damast, Program Director, NYU Dance Education; Taryn Kaschock Russell, Founding Director, ArtsOrb; Aubrey Lynch II, Dean of Students and Director of ABT Wellness and ABT RISE; and Royce Zackery, Associate Professor, Coordinator of Dance Arts Program, Howard University.
Dr. Gess LeBlanc, co-founder of Hunter’s Urban Center for Assessment, Research, and Evaluation, who is working on a Year II evaluation of BE BOLD presented recent findings from his observations of BE BOLD classes, small student focus groups, and discussions with teaching artists and with partner site staff members to assess impact and student engagement.
The workshop also included opportunities for the teaching artists to teach each other diverse dance and music styles, including Salsa and our very own BE BOLD rap!
Celebrating Spring and Transitioning to Summer
Students, teaching artists, and Program Director Sindy Folgar celebrating a great spring semester at the Bronxworks Carolyn McLaughlin Community Center.
BE BOLD classes celebrated the end of a great spring semester in a variety of ways. At some of our sites, our students gave performances for their parents and caregivers. The audiences included children from the sites’ other programs. In one memorable instance, the audience joined in and danced along! Several sites opted to mark the semester’s end by inviting parents and caregivers into the classroom to watch a class and see their children receive a certificate of achievement. Lots of photos were taken, and many hugs and high-fives were given! No matter how our BE BOLD classes celebrated their accomplishments, our students, families, and teaching artists were proud of all the growth and hard work demonstrated over the semester.
We are now transitioning into our BE BOLD summer programming, which starts in early July. Depending on the site, the program will run for 3 to 8 weeks. We welcome two new sites in the Bronx, PS 180 Dr. Daniel Hale Williams School and PS 154 The Willis Avenue School along with our returning sites BronxWorks Carolyn McLaughlin Community Center and, in Harlem, Union Settlement Gaylord White Community Center, Rising Stars After School Program.
We look forward to a great summer of BE BOLD learning, creativity, and fun with our students!
We are thrilled to announce the Misty Copeland Foundation’s website is now revised and updated! This revision reflects our ongoing commitment to provide valuable information to our community about our work and achievements.
Please be sure to check out our section on BE BOLD which features:
Program, teaching artists, and community sites Information.
A look at the critical need for BE BOLD and other quality afterschool programming.
Our ongoing evaluation and impact studies, which drive ongoing program improvements.
The site features new photos showcasing the incredible work of BE BOLD and our teaching artists. To stay up to date with MCF, check out our Media Highlights page.
We will continue to share our journey and mission with you through this enhanced online platform. Visit us at mistycopelandfoundation.org. Please consider making a donation to help us empower future generations.
Your support truly makes a difference!
The Misty Copeland Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization that raises funds to support its programs. You can help children grow and learn through BE BOLD our innovative afterschool ballet program:
$25 will help furnish BE BOLD classroom materials for one class.
$60 will help provide a BE BOLD class with tee shirts.
$80 will help ensure a BE BOLD class has ballet shoes.
$100 will help fund live music accompaniment for a BE BOLD class.
$150 will help supply BE BOLD books for a class.
$250 will help support opportunities for BE BOLD students to attend live performances.
$600 will help cover teaching artist stipends for BE BOLD training workshops.
$1,000 will help underwrite the cost of a child’s participation in BE BOLD.
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