Creating Opportunity, Building Bridges, Supporting Passionate Engagement

 

The John Alleyne Award was created in 2025 and it is the project of a grass-roots community of artists, spanning a broad range of ages and experience, who are committed to the evolution of a culture in the ballet world which leaves behind the historical limits of anti-Black racism and white superiority.

Through an annual call for nominations, one recipient will be chosen for The John Alleyne Award. The recipient may be an individual, group of individuals, or an organization whose actions promote the development of Ballet’s aesthetics or structural practices so that the art form can speak to the broadest possible range of human experience and rise above the historical cultural homogeneity that otherwise defeats its aspirations. The recipient will receive financial support so that they may continue their service, always seeking to expose the limits of Ballet’s history, and to re-define the art form by what it may become: the exploration of the body’s unique potential to reveal the heart’s truth.

The John Alleyne Award was first conceived by members of the Class of 1978 in honour and admiration of their Black classmate, John Alleyne. In 2020, as a group, they came to acknowledge that anti-Black racism exists in the ballet world, and that John struggled within—and succeeded despite—this systemic bias. The John Alleyne Award encourages everyone to recognize that ballet’s greatest successes do not come from adherence to archaic criteria, or reflection of artificial social bias. Rather, Ballet can speak to who we are, and who we suspect we should become, in moments when the spirit transcends the limits of the physical body, the ego, and the fear of arbitrary judgment.

The aim of this award is not only to recognize John as an individual and acknowledge his important contributions to the NBS community and the ballet world more generally, but to provide inspiration for others to fight systemic racism and other issues and to stand for the courage that seeks change.

Recipients of the John Alleyne Award receive financial support that helps them continue their impactful work in the world of ballet. Make a donation to the John Alleyne Award Fund today and be part of the change in re-defining ballet.

 

 

 

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John Alleyne has spent his life and career exploring the duty of care we owe to others and to ourselves. As a dancer and choreographer, his work emphasized the nuances of human connection, often exposing the hierarchy and power dynamics that hide in plain sight. His practice as an artistic leader followed an atelier model, bringing experts in design, music, and theatre to the creative process. The combination of artists from diverse spaces resulted in works distinguished by perspectives that are still unexpected and deeply moving. In the studio, his process remains noticeably personal—it allows, or even insists, that the roles created for his ballets bear the indelible stamp of the original dancers.

 

Turning his attention to the future of Ballet as a formal expression of human relationships, John continues to create work founded in the fundamental acts that express respect for the self, the community, and the other, however that is defined. This work, through workshops, curated appreciation of existing art and historical discovery, creates space for dialogues between leaders and practitioners, where the voices of those traditionally silenced can be heard. As those voices are heard, the history of why and how Ballet developed so many exclusionary practices is revealed, and it becomes clear that Ballet can develop a culture that marks its excellence by the diversity of those it includes.

 

The conversations bring to light Ballet’s successes in creating space for the unexpected, the surprisingly beautiful, and the universal gift of communication beyond words. In fact, John’s personal example of constructive engagement focuses the work less on where an art form with the capacity to celebrate human potential has fallen short, and more on how a truly humane practice might flourish from the seeds that have lain dormant under the cloud of prejudice. In keeping with the principle that the most significant knowledge is discovered in the common space where there is neither teacher nor student, John structures the content to be discussed so that every participant will be able to continue their discovery independently and build their individual ability for empathy, resilience, and courageous action.

The Award recognizes two types of activities.

 

The first are those actions that take place in traditional spaces such as studios or stages, and have the effect of shifting the art form’s aesthetics. This could involve innovation in training, bringing renewed focus on evidence-based practice, and discrediting training myths that are based on racial tropes. It could also involve advances in training psychology, creating practical applications for example, of the understanding of physical response to trauma, stereo-typical threat or group dynamics and identity. The goal is to move away from appreciating Ballet as codified, exclusive, physical beauty and toward the experience of performance as authentic and unique communication.   

 
The second type are activities that challenge global systemic issues related to inequities in ballet. These activities are innovations that give more people “a place at the table” and ensure that they will get first class service when they are seated. These changes in established practice will be noted in board rooms, in advertising campaigns, in the standard education curricula of public schools, or perhaps in the choice of performance venues, creation of funds to support participation in festivals, competitions or training camps, or workshops that focus on best practices for teachers who are either themselves of colour, or want to forge constructive relationships with their students of colour. The goal is for Ballet to evolve a culture of accessibility, where success is defined by how many people it can call in, rather than how many it can force out. This will orient the profession, and most importantly, the environment it creates to sustain itself, towards the future, rather than sterile recreation of the past.

 

In either case, the award is not only an occasion to celebrate an individual or an organization for their participation in Ballet’s evolution.  It is in fact, a call to further dedication, and the provision of resources to support the obligation to service which the award entails. 
 

Award Eligibility Includes

• A person, or persons, or organization that pursues the discovery of practices to increase participation of non-white dancers; who develops the appreciation of inclusive aesthetics, repertory and education systems; who creates structures that invite diversity, collaboration, or creates institutions that belong to no one, and yet welcome all. The recipient should be noted for what they stand for, rather than what they oppose. 

• “Ballet” is communication using a physical vocabulary that acknowledges a common ancestor in the European schools of the 17th century. 

• The recipient may have an unusual form of agency. They may be the unexpected, or unnoticed member of the community that makes a crucial contribution. 

• Demonstrates the “spirit” or “energy” of a young John Alleyne. That is to say, a person who defies easy categorization, and as such makes profound contact with individuals from all walks of life. The individual or organization, like John, will support their intuition with far reaching scholarship, which is likely to be as much self-directed as it is dependant on traditional academic process. 

• The activity for which the recipient is honoured will be activity undertaken in the right amount, for the right reason, at the right time. In other words, it will be balanced, self-aware, and dedicated to service. 

• The recipient will not be limited by any category, neither political, social nor personal.