Getting to the Pointe: Saving Ballet from Itself in Pittsburgh

In her recent book, Turning Pointe, journalist Chloe Angyal writes of the deep and abiding love dancers feel for the art of ballet, and the almost universal toxic, demeaning and exclusionary environment that has historically accompanied ballet. ?What a terrible, long-hidden price dancers have paid behind the scenes, day in and day out, to experience the joy of dancing and performing. Angyal's central focus is "how a new generation of dancers is saving ballet from itself."

Confluence Ballet Co., a fledgling professional ballet company formed in early 2021 in Pittsburgh, is struggling and striving to be a leader in re-inventing ballet, to create a culture in which diversity, inclusiveness and dancer well-being are core values.?

An amazingly gifted team of dancers from all over the United States converged on Pittsburgh during the summer of 2021: a confluence of talent flowing together to launch this new company in hope of creating safe space to be comfortable being themselves, to hone their skills, perform high caliber dance that fuses tradition and innovation, provide stellar and healthy dance education, and to bring ballet to heretofore underexposed segments of our population.

Shortly after the dancers arrived in the Steel City, they were confronted with the stark reality of significant financial challenges resulting from well-intentioned but unsustainable obligations.?A lesser group would have fled the scene; however, these dancers doubled down on their commitment to make this bold endeavor work—to bring their dream to fruition.?They fully grasped and embraced their opportunity to disrupt the ballet world in a positive way, to reinvent how a ballet company operates.

Confluence, a 501c3 nonprofit, is now run by the dancers themselves, fully empowered, with oversight and guidance from a small board of directors.?The dancers, nearly all of whom have danced professionally in other companies, and many of whom hold dual degrees in dance and arts administration, have demonstrated keen business savvy in choreographing their own recovery—renegotiating their own contracts, diplomatically extricating the company from unaffordable arrangements, building bridges to collaborate and cooperate with other arts organizations in Pittsburgh (which is definitely one of the most artistically vibrant cities of its size in the US), finding ways to streamline the operating budget, reconfiguring their 2021-2022 season to make it fiscally viable.

The team is also banking on its innate acumen in the social media marketing arena, experimenting and learning how to leverage platforms such as TikTok and Instagram to grow a grassroots family of engaged followers well beyond Pittsburgh.?What is happening at Confluence in Pittsburgh has ramifications throughout the entire ballet world.?Every dancer who has ever come home from ballet in tears because they felt demeaned and crushed, told they don’t look like a ballet dancer is supposed to look, shut out for any number of reasons, has every reason to cheer on and support Confluence Ballet Co. ??????

Working through this shared adversity as a team, recommitting to the mission, vision and values of Confluence Ballet Co., and owning their broader responsibility to seize this opportunity to fix ballet, is growing trust and building relationships that will last a lifetime, that will manifest in even better art on stage.

This story is still very much in its nascence.?There is plenty of whitewater ahead for Confluence Ballet Co.?Someone must reinvent ballet, preserve the art while eradicating the destructive culture, make dancer well-being, diversity and inclusion a central tenet.?If ballet is going to stay relevant in the 21st Century, it must transform.?

For Confluence Ballet Co., given this chance, the question is: if not them, who, and if not now, when?????