Echoes of the Studio

In rehearsal, Dionne Figgins is exacting. She has an eagle eye as she runs choreography in short sections, making sure each detail is accounted for. The dancers she was working with on April 15—all students at Ballet Tech, the New York City public school that combines dance education with traditional academics—varied in their responses to her corrections. Some slunk back to their starting positions to prepare to run the work again, others sauntered reluctantly, and others bounded, bursting with energy. Despite these differing approaches, one thing was clear—by the end of rehearsal, each student had made progress.

Students of Ballet Tech, Kalilah Philbert, Samantha Gonzalez, Rachel Fernandes rehearse. Photograph by Joe Rayome

Figgins is at the tail end of her fifth year as artistic director of Ballet Tech. She says the work she’s creating, “Echoes of the Studio,” has been taking shape in her mind since she took the helm in 2021. Set to premiere at the Joyce Theater during Ballet Tech’s annual Kids Dance program, which runs from June 4-7, the work mines studio practice to speak to life’s cyclical nature and the ways our mentors inspire us to pass knowledge along in turn. It’s set to an original score by George Lykogiannis, who will be performing live alongside the dancers.

“I have a love of this intergenerational work between teacher and student,” Figgins says. “This idea of collaborating with the students on the vision of who they want to be as people and as artists—that’s really what I want to be as an educator.”

Figgins came to her current role following a robust performance career, which spanned Broadway and company dancer positions at both Dance Theatre of Harlem and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. In her time at Ballet Tech, Figgins has made a variety of diversity and access-based changes, focusing on expanding dance’s reach beyond the school’s doors—and broadening the range of opportunities within them.

Figgins spoke with Fjord Review about creating “Echoes of the Studio,” the past five years leading Ballet Tech, and the school’s recently announced receipt of the 2024 Outstanding Service to the Field of Dance Bessie Award.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Fjord: “Echoes of the Studio” comes at a key point in your tenure at Ballet Tech, your fifth anniversary as artistic director. The past five years have been full of changes and growth for the school. I’m curious to hear your reflections on this time.

Figgins: There were a lot of long-standing programs that shifted—things like changing our audition program from being primarily just an audition-based process to actually providing classes and enrichment programming to students in the public schools. And it used to be that when we did our concert at the Joyce, not every student in the middle school was invited to participate. I wanted to see that all of the students in the school had the chance to perform. And then also, I’m just always thinking, “What are the student needs?” Not just in the dance studio—but what do they need as people?

Ballet Tech artistic director Dionne Figgins with students. Photograph by Joe Rayome

So often in dance students are treated as professionals from a very young age. But here, they’re students, they’re here to learn and gain experience.

And, in the dance world, we tend to focus so much on what the body can do during the audition process, but there's so many other things that we need to assess when we're looking at whether or not a student is going to thrive in the studio. Are they interested? Do they have focus? Do they have creativity and coordination? This is a ballet school, but there are so many pathways that come out of ballet. So why would we eliminate a student just because they don't have a ballet aesthetic?

Despite the fact that it’s a ballet school, there are other types of classes too, right?

In middle school, we really start to add more variety to the curriculum. They start to experience tap, jazz, Horton, and we have a repertory class where they learn choreography by the founder, Eliot Feld. I teach a choreographic workshop with the eighth graders that starts preparing them for auditions. And then throughout the year, depending on what's happening, we do classes that are tailored towards cultural celebrations. For Latin Heritage Month, we'll bring in artists from Ballet Hispánico to work with them on different styles, or if it's Lunar New Year, we always have someone come in to do traditional Chinese dancing with the students. This is a very diverse, international school. Another part of my vision is making sure that the students are able to embrace their own cultures while simultaneously learning ballet. They don’t have to strip themselves of their culture in order to participate in ballet—these two ideas can live side by side.

Tell me a bit about “Echoes of the Studio,” your new work that will premiere as part of Ballet Tech’s Kids Dance program at the Joyce in early June.

I love studio practice. I’m a performer so I’ve been on stage my whole life, but it’s the rehearsal process that I really love the most. There’s just something so powerful about being able to focus your energy for that amount of time, dedicating yourself to a practice. The piece is essentially about the journey from being a student and taking everything you learn and bringing it to the stage. There are also adults in the piece. I’m introducing adults into the space and having them serve as inspiration for the students, but also to feel the inspiration that pours back into us as adults when we are in the studio with the students.

Maleya Beaubrun with Ballet Tech students in rehearsal. Photograph by Joe Rayome

Will this piece be for the entire school?

It’s for the entire middle school, 6th to 8th grades. We do have 4th and 5th graders at Ballet Tech, but their classload is a lot lighter. They do a site-specific work with Parsons Dance called About Sprouts. I cultivated that relationship and we’ve been doing that for the past five years. That’s become their training ground for rehearsal and performance.

And do the majority of the students that graduate from Ballet Tech continue dancing and performing in some way?

I think about 65-70 percent of the students go into a dance program. But what’s been fascinating is that we have students that aren’t just going into dance programs, they’re also going into other performing arts tracks. We also have several students that are going into very strong visual arts programs.

Ballet Tech was recently awarded the Outstanding Service to the Field Bessie Award. Tell me a bit about that experience.

I can only speak for what I’ve done for the past five years, and I’m proud of that, but I also want to acknowledge that this school has been around for a long time. Now, if I’m just talking about my joy around it, to be recognized in this way is very meaningful. Dance is at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to entertainment, so we’re not expecting to be recognized for this work. You’re not going to make a ton of money, and you’re not going to win an Oscar. And so to be in a room where the sole purpose is to recognize these artists is wonderful.

What’s next for Ballet Tech?

I want more dance. I want more programs. I want to see programming that happens after school. Right now, the program runs until 4:15, but I know there are many students in the school who want to dance until 6. I want more Ballet Tech in community spaces. I want to see the students performing during the summertime. I want to see our teaching faculty providing community dance in whatever space is available to us. I want Ballet Tech to be part of conversations surrounding how we use dance as a medium for expression, for physical fitness—there are so many things dance can do. I think the New York City public school for dance should be at the forefront of how we make dance and how we make dancers.

Sophie Bress

Sophie Bress is an arts and culture journalist and dance critic. She regularly contributes to Dance Magazine and Fjord Review, and has also written for the New York Times, NPR, Observer, Pointe, and more.

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