A lunch and learn for Joye in Aiken: Collage Dance Collective was held March 11 at the Center for African American History, Arts and Culture.

Kevin Thomas, artistic director of Collage Dance, feels driven to create movement about subjects to which he is culturally connected. Inspired by Southern Black cotillion culture.

ABC24 Celebrates Memphis by recognizing Collage Dance Collective, one of the largest Black performing arts organizations in the South.

Multi Award-winning, Black-led Collage Dance Collective brings Zora Neale Hurston’s revolutionary vision to Kansas City. A neoclassical ballet and contemporary dance piece exploring Black freedom and self-determination. November 14 at the Midwest Trust Center.

Collage’s $25,000 National Endowment for the Arts grant was canceled earlier this year, but the Memphis dance company is forging ahead with a new season of shows that open this weekend.

Award-winning choreographer debuts new Collage Dance show

A new initiative focuses on collaboration to amplify the art of dance in Memphis. Spearheaded by ARTSmemphis, Dance Memphis joins nine of the city’s art organizations to emphasize access to dance education, performances, and other opportunities. This project includes: Germantown Performing Arts Center (GPAC), Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, Orpheum Theatre Group, Collage Dance, New Ballet Ensemble & School, Ballet Memphis, Buckman Performing Arts Center at St. Mary’s School, and the University of Memphis Theatre and Dance Department.

Local dance organizations are uniting under a new initiative to expand access to dance education and performances across Memphis.

This fall, the dance community in Memphis is stepping boldly into a new season. From classical ballet to flamenco, from jazz-inspired musicals to contemporary storytelling, stages across Memphis are coming alive with performances that invite audiences to experience the artistry, power, and beauty of dance.

A dancer from Brazil has created a message for the Bluff City — a celebration of culture and identity that functions in part as a video love letter to his adopted hometown.

A dancer from Brazil has created a message for the Bluff City — a celebration of culture and identity that functions in part as a video love letter to his adopted hometown.

This summer, Memphis dancers are lighting up stages across the nation—and beyond. From high school performers and college dance majors to rising stars at top conservatories and professional companies, the Memphis dance community is proving once again that our city’s rhythm travels far. Through camps, intensives, and national performances, these dancers are spreading soul, skill, and Southern grace everywhere they go.

Collage Dance Collective featuring classes for adults to hone their dance skills.

Memphis lives and breathes Black history. This February, We Are Memphis presents Black Legacy Lives Here—a month-long celebration of Black excellence, past, present, and future. We’re spotlighting four educators and leaders shaping the next generation. Meet Kevin Thomas, the Founding Artistic Director of Collage Dance, who is shaping the next generation of dance and artistry right here in Memphis.

The Brooks Center for the Performing Arts proudly announces an upcoming residency with Collage Dance Collective, one of the nation’s premier, Black-led ballet companies that is at the national forefront of inspiring the growth and diversity of ballet.

ABC24's Rudy Williams interviews members of Collage Dance Collective, who will present 'RISE' on Feb. 3-4, at the Cannon Center in honor of Black History Month.

Collage Dance Collective performs Their Eyes Were Watching God with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Jan 31–Feb 2.

Are you looking for a celebratory way to kick off Black History Month? Well, here’s one way you can start the month off right. Collage Dance’s ballet performances of Their Eyes Were Watching God and Rise were originated with one thing in mind: to honor Black culture and to spotlight pivotal moments the Black community endured in the past.

Collage Dance Collective received the 2024 Bank of America Neighborhood Champion award. Here is a look at some of Collage's programming.

On Jan. 18 at 7 p.m., catch this Collage Dance Collective performance inspired by MLK’s I’ve Been to the Mountaintop speech, which he delivered at the Mason Temple in Memphis on April 3, 1968, one day before his assassination.

In a significant step toward fostering diversity in the arts and empowering the next generation of performers, Bank of America Memphis has announced Collage Dance Collective as its 2024 Neighborhood Champion.

Bank of America Memphis names Collage Dance Collective its 2024 Neighborhood Champion

Remembering the life and impact of Collage Dance Collective’s Tiffany Glenn.

Despite his career’s physical and mentally grueling demands, Thierry Blannchard, 23, proves that when there’s a will, there’s a way. The bright and ambitious professional ballet dancer redefines what’s possible within a 24-hour day while making healthy choices.

Pointe Magazine highlights Rio de Janeiro native Fábio Mariano, who took up crocheting during the cold winters of his 2016–17 season with Atlantic City Ballet. “I had no winter clothes and little money,” says Mariano, now a member of Collage Dance Collective and founder of Fabiolous Crochet.

As Collage Dance Founding Executive Director Marcellus Harper told ESSENCE, “Nothing pairs better with music than dance, so it’s only fitting that the birthplace of some of America’s most iconic music would be selected as the host of one of the most important international gatherings of dance.”

Collage Dance – Founded as a performance company in 2006 by executive director Marcellus Harper and artistic director Kevin Thomas to remediate the ballet industry’s lack of racial diversity, it was originally based in New York, not Memphis. Their mission grew directly out of Thomas’ 10 years of experience as the principal dancer at the Dance Theatre of Harlem.

Collage Dance, Ballet Memphis, and New Ballet Ensemble (among others) have elevated the city’s profile as a center of dance innovation and education.

Collage Dance – recently named one of the 50 largest ballet companies in the nation by Dance Data Project, is pleased to announce the appointment of Anne-Carolyn Bird as its new Development Director. In this role, Bird will support Collage in its on-going mission to evolve the landscape of dance in the American South, cultivate diverse dance students for its Conservatory, and present engaging, cutting-edge programming to bring the community together through the power of ballet.

Dancers from around the country took to the stage Saturday, Sept. 16 as Collage Dance Collective hosted the Memphis Dance Festival, featuring performances from Lil Buck, Ballet Memphis, Nashville Ballet, Sole Defined of Washington, New York City Ballet, Alonzo King Lines Ballet of San Francisco, and the Grizz Girls.

In case you missed it, here’s a look at the 2023 Memphis Dance Festival!

Black professional dancers, choreographers and directors from around the world will converge on Memphis in January.

Three of the country’s largest ballet companies are in Tennessee, according to a new analysis. Two of those ballet companies are in Memphis, according to an August 2023 Dance Data Project study that ranks the 50 largest organizations. Collage Dance Collective entered the top 50 for the first time at No. 46. Ballet Memphis is No. 32.

Rebirth Brass Band tops the bill at Collage’s Memphis Dance Festival!

Collage Dance one of the largest Black-led performing arts organizations in the South and one of only a few professional ballet companies in the world with a roster of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) dancers will present the 3rd Annual Memphis Dance Festival on National Dance Day, Saturday, September 16, 2023.

Luisa Cardoso of Collage Dance Collective cooks with Dance Magazine!

Collage Dance – one of the largest Black-led performing arts organizations in the South and one of only a few professional ballet companies in the world with a roster of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) dancers – has announced that it will receive a two million dollar grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Memphis-based Collage Dance is one of the largest Black-led performing arts organizations in the South.

April 29 and 30, Memphis-based Collage Dance Collective is set to premiere Their Eyes Were Watching God, a new ballet reimagining Zora Neale Hurston’s iconic 1937 novel of the same title. Choreographed by Collage artistic director Kevin Thomas and acclaimed choreographer Amy Hall Garner, this new work brings to life the classic tale of love, freedom, and self-realization.

The 2022 “Raise The Bar Summer Intensive” at Collage Dance is underway, “nurturing budding dancers” from across the country by offering classes in Memphis.

A Memphis-based organization will receive up to $300,000 in general operating grants — distributed over three years — and a project grant of up to $7,500.

Collage Dance Collective has been awarded and recognized as a Southern Cultural Treasure by South Arts. Founding Artistic Director Kevin Thomas joined Action News 5′s Amanda Hanson at the digital desk to talk about what this honor means for the non-profit to continue their work to make ballet more inclusive. The program is expected to run through March 2025 and provide each organization with up to $300,000 of general operating grants distributed over three years.

The Ford Foundation has partnered with South Arts, a non-profit organisation working to support the cultural scene in the Southern US, to launch the Southern Cultural Treasures initiative, a $6m four-year grant-making scheme that aims to benefit underserved cultural organisations and art projects in the region.

Ballet has had a white supremacy problem since the earliest steps were codified in the court of Louis XIV. Once a way to broadcast power, wealth, and proximity to the French king, over the years, the dances once practiced and performed by courtiers evolved into a professionalized artform that emulated the strictures and hierarchical structures of the European court system. More than four centuries later, ballet remains an elite and, in many cases, predominantly white artform.

Producing a ballet extravaganza at the Kennedy Center was enthusiastically supported by diverse, multicultural audiences of all ages. “Reframing the Narrative” took the history of Black ballet and compressed it into a week of workshops and performances. An on-screen scroll of 460 names called “Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet (MOB)” preceded staged performances. That list honored excellence from Black and brown ballet dancers, past and present.

This week, the Kennedy Center presents Reframing the Narrative, a huge event centered on the abundance of Blacks in ballet and their contributions to the art both on and off the stage. Over the last year and a half, Theresa Ruth Howard, founder of Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet, and Denise Saunders Thompson, president and CEO of The International Association of Blacks in Dance, have been working with the Kennedy Center to craft the many moving parts of this carefully curated experience.

Ballet has had a white supremacy problem since the earliest steps were codified in the court of Louis XIV. Once a way to broadcast power, wealth, and proximity to the French king, over the years, the dances once practiced and performed by courtiers evolved into a professionalized artform that emulated the strictures and hierarchical structures of the European court system. More than four centuries later, ballet remains an elite and, in many cases, predominantly white artform.

It took over two hours to get to the point of ‘’Reframing the Narrative” (Program A) at the Kennedy Center Opera House. My “ah-ha” moment came as B.B. King sang from a recording of “Let The Good Times Roll.” This is what the concert was meant to be—singing, dancing, and celebrating Black ballet dancers who have not been properly recognized. What a wonderful piece! I have never seen ballet dancers call out to the audience to join in on the hand-clapping and belting out the lyrics in “Bluff City Blues,” choreographed by Amy Hall Garner and performed by Collage Dance Collective.

Memphis may be known for it’s Jookin dance form but one dance company, the Collage Dance Collective, is proving ballet can be a part of the city’s identity too. They work to improve diversity in dance, especially black boys. Caleb Thompson is one such black young man. He has been dancing ballet the last 3 years, but like many boys his age, his first thought was that it wasn’t for him.

COVID-19 is forcing organizations to make tough decisions on whether to hold in-person events. Some companies remain completely virtual while others are beginning to host events. While things seem to change daily, companies must be ready to make strategic decisions and determine how best to move forward with their plans safely.

This week we will finally see the result of your longtime generosity and a $3 million contribution from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott that put Collage Dances fundraising effort over the top. The dance company wants you to be a part of their grand opening this weekend of its new facility in Binghampton. And we were live with Collage’s co-founder and artistic director, Kevin Thomas.

Later this week, Collage Dance will dedicate its new state of the art facility in Binghampton. That center is more than 22-thousand square feet of space to help their performers grow and develop their skills. This morning, we will leave you with some of the members of their company. Here’s collage dance with Flack. This is a modern classic set to the music of the legendary Roberta Flack.

Collage is one of the youngest dance groups on Scott’s list, founded in New York in 2006 by Harper and Kevin Thomas, a principal with Dance Theatre of Harlem. They saw it as a way to carry on the legacy of Dance Theatre’s founder Arthur Mitchell, a pioneer in showcasing Black ballet dancers. Thomas and Harper moved to Memphis a year later, hoping to have a larger impact there than in New York’s crowded field.

Enhanced Capital is proud to help Collage Dance Collective (“Collage”) grow by providing an investment through federal New Markets Tax Credits to build a new state-of-the-art facility. Collage is a Black-owned ballet company and dance school in Memphis, TN, that has dramatically impacted children’s lives through professional ballet training since its founding in 2006. Collage’s programs teach children from all socioeconomic backgrounds ballet through a unified curriculum inspired by various classical techniques.

Collage Dance Collective and Memphis Music Initiative received a generous donation from billionaire MacKenzie Scott, and they both say they are going to put the money to good use.

Two equity-oriented nonprofits in Memphis received a donation from novelist and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. Scott announced June 15 that she had donated $2.7 billion to 286 nonprofit organizations.

Two Memphis nonprofits — Collage Dance Collective and Memphis Music Initiative — recently received grants from MacKenzie Scott, billionaire philanthropist and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Sitting down to write this post, I felt stuck. I want to de-emphasize privileged voices and cede focus to others, yet I know some media stories will focus on wealth. The headline I would wish for this post is “286 Teams Empowering Voices the World Needs to Hear.” People struggling against inequities deserve center stage in stories about change they are creating. This is equally — perhaps especially — true when their work is funded by wealth. Any wealth is a product of a collective effort that included them. The social structures that inflate wealth present obstacles to them. And despite those obstacles, they are providing solutions that benefit us all.

The first official Collage Dance Collective class had one student, and was taught in the basement of a Methodist church. Now, just over a decade later, the Memphis-based ballet company and conservatory is teaching 250 students (a number which they anticipate will grow significantly next year) in a brand-new, state-of-the-art facility—the doors of which opened in the middle of a pandemic, no less.

Kevin Thomas and Kendall Lockhart from the Collage Dance Collective talk about an inspiring new show airing Monday, April 26, at 6:30 p.m. on News Channel 3.

Kevin Thomas and Kendall Lockhart from the Collage Dance Collective talk about an inspiring new show airing Monday, April 26, at 6:30 p.m. on News Channel 3.

Instead of heading off to the ballet this year, Collage Dance Collective is bringing the ballet to you by way of televised performances and a new archive of digital content.

Ballet and social distancing don’t typically mix. But, Collage Dance Collective is doing its best to keep its students and dancers safe and reinventing its business model, all while opening a new space in Binghampton.

Memphis is stacked with so much talent. From the music scene to creative dance styles like ‘Memphis Jookin’ and even classical ballet. Collage Dance Collective is known for their beautiful dancers with amazing technique.

At the intersection of Sam Cooper and Tilman sits the New Collage Dance Collective building. Although it is not finished, a good porting is complete.

COVID-19 has paused a lot of projects and construction but it’s not stopping a new ballet facility that will open in the Binghampton area. By next month, on the corner of Broad Avenue and Tillman Street, you’ll see a new state-of-the-art ballet facility. “Right now we’re creating the new home of Collage Dance Collective,” said Kevin Thomas, Co-founder Collage Dance Collective. Co-founders of Collage Dance Collective say once they open the new facility it will be the largest Black-led ballet institution in the South.

After eight years on Broad Avenue, Collage Dance Collective is relocating to a 22,000-square-foot location on Tillman. This is part of the nonprofit’s vision to grow into the largest Black-owned ballet company in the South.

With scores from Tchaikovsky to Aretha Franklin and dancers from French Guiana to Brazil, Collage Dance Collective is as rich in variety and culture as its local community. Establishing roots in Memphis, Tennessee, known for its blues and civil rights history, was an intentional move, says artistic director and co-founder Kevin Thomas. He moved the company there from New York City in 2007, just one year after its inception. “We felt like it was the perfect place to grow.”

As a predominately Black city rooted in a history of leading social justice, Memphis celebrates blackness in unique and creative ways year-long. One outstanding ballet company is on a mission to make the art more accessible. We spoke with Marcellus Harper of Collage Dance Collective, one of the few organizations in Memphis claiming space for Black talent, on his thoughts on the arts in our community.

While the pandemic won’t stifle the arts’ presence, it could change the way they’re received. When the coronavirus spread, it drastically altered life for arts organizations.

Collage Dance Collective’s 22,000-square-foot, $9 million facility will be one of the largest projects of its kind — a testament to the growth of a black ballet company and conservatory that ballooned from one student in 2009 to around 500 today.

Two Mid-South cultural institutions are celebrating milestones together this year. Collage Dance Collective, the city’s only African American dance company, is celebrating its 10th year and the Germantown Performing Arts Center its 25th.

Kevin Thomas and Kendall Lockhart from the Collage Dance Collective talk about an inspiring new show airing Monday, April 26, at 6:30 p.m. on News Channel 3.