Aubrey Lynch II, dean of students and director of ABT Wellness and RISE with American Ballet Theatre in New York City, joined the studio to talk about his work to further mental health and DEI initiatives at ABT and beyond! He focuses on mentoring students at ABT and providing resources for them, as well as expanding access to mental health resources that support the whole dancer in and out of the studio. He also works to build upon ABT’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to make ballet a more welcoming place on stage, in the audience and behind the scenes. Prior to joining American Ballet Theatre, Aubrey was the dance director and chief education and creative programs officer at The Harlem School of the Arts. Before transitioning to arts administration, he was one of the final dancers hand-selected by Alvin Ailey to join Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Aubrey was an original company member of Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and he was an original cast member of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, Disney's The Lion King. Aubrey also acted as the production's associate choreographer, and later, the associate producer. We talked about the importance of self-reflection in ballet, providing visibility for BIPOC and female dancers and choreographers, and why access to mental health is so important for dancers. 

• Follow Aubrey on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠@aubreylynch
• Learn more about Aubrey's work: ⁠⁠www.aubreylynch.com
• Learn about ABT's RISE program: https://www.abt.org/community/abt-rise/
• Support American Ballet Theatre: https://www.abt.org/support/individual-giving/membership/
• Follow Aubrey Lynch In Reflection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuScqUc3gX4&list=PL4kr2tqzHCEb52fNAgZ50pGyPw1MAk2Nm

Music in this episode:

Waltz of the Flowers - Tchaikovsky

Barroom Ballet - Silent Film Light - Kevin MacLeod

Barroom Ballet - Silent Film Light by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. ⁠⁠⁠https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/⁠⁠⁠

Source: ⁠⁠⁠http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100310⁠⁠⁠

Artist: ⁠⁠⁠http://incompetech.com/⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠@eblosfield⁠⁠⁠ | [email protected]

Support this podcast on Patreon! ⁠⁠⁠https://patreon.com/TheAdultBalletStudio?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.