The Center for Ballet & the Arts and National Sawdust Announce Toulmin Creators

The Center for the Ballet and the Arts at NYU and National Sawdust today announced the 40 composers and choreographers named as Toulmin Creators who will collaborate on new work for the virtual medium and participate in a slate of digital performances and programs, free and open to the public. The Toulmin Creators join five Toulmin Fellows, announced in the fall.

The addition of the Toulmin Creators is the next phase in a year-long partnership between the Center for Ballet and the Arts and National Sawdust, designed to support female, trans, and non-binary artists. Creators receive project development support, resources to adapt their work to the digital space, and a generative environment in which to develop new work and collaborate across artistic disciplines. The partnership is made possible by a $300,000 gift from the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.

To see the full list of Toulmin Creators, please visit https://bit.ly/2ODGKLJ.

Several Creators have upcoming events in the near term as part of National Sawdust's Digital Discovery Festival, a weekly program of live performances, interviews, and artist development designed to link audiences with artists and ensure artists are compensated for their work. Additional collaborations will be announced as artistic relationships develop among Toulmin Fellows and Creators.

The partnership between the Center for Ballet and the Arts and National Sawdust-which began in November 2020-supports 45 choreographers and composers at a time when the arts industry has been heavily impacted by the pandemic.

"I am beyond happy to collaborate with CBA in this new partnership. To be able to focus on mentorship, discussion and the genesis of new work in this challenging time is a tremendous gift. The depth and scholarly approach CBA brings to the table is unique and one we will learn from. The camaraderie, art and discussions that have ensued are gifts we will treasure in terms of artifacts of our time, and great additions to the collaborative process and the canon," said Paola Prestini, composer, co-founder, and artistic director of National Sawdust.

"A year into the pandemic, artists are still creating and performing in a virtual environment. It is critical that these artists have the time, resources, and relationships needed to continue to develop new work. Music is vital to dance, so we are especially thrilled to partner with National Sawdust. We know these artists will benefit enormously from their community and expertise," said Jennifer Homans, founder and director of the Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU.

National Sawdust's 2021 season celebrates creative and intellectual innovation and reinventing performance for the virtual stage and includes events with Toulmin Fellows and Creators. Further details about these events, as well as a full list of the Toulmin Creators and Fellows, is below.

2020-2021 Toulmin Creators:

Holland Andrews
Eliza Bagg
Stefanie Batten Bland
Sidra Bell
Galya Bisengalieva
Hope Boykin
Ayodele Casel
Maria Chavez
Helga Davis
Dormeshia
Izzi Eberstadt
Kate Eberstadt
inti figgis-vizueta
Ogemdi Ude
Gwendolyn Gussman
Samar Haddad King
Alicia Hall Moran
Francesca Harper
Hannah Ishizaki
JLin
Ausia Jones
Maurya Kerr
Bridget Kibbey
Yaz Lancaster
Loni Landon
Amyra Leon
Allison Loggins-Hull
Aditi Mangaldas
JL Marlor
Jessie Montgomery
Niloufar Nourbakhsh
Okwui Okpokwasili
Caili Quan
Tiffany Rea-Fisher
Hannah Schneider
Alesandra Seutin
Alice Sheppard
Valeria Solomonoff
Rajna Swaminathan
Tanyaradzwa Tawengwa

2020-2021 Toulmin Fellows:

Amy Hall Garner
Molly Joyce
Brianna Mims
Marisa Michelson and Miriam Parker