Today we’d like to introduce you to Zoé Henrot.
Hi Zoé, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I moved to the Twin Cities after graduation from Mount Holyoke College in 2012. I started diving into the dance community with gig work and soon met a group of dancers who needed an Artistic Director. In college, I had directed a few student dance concerts, so I had some experience leading a team through a production. As I gained more experience in arts administration and performance, I started to really cultivate my mission and vision for ballet. I founded Ballet Co.Laboratory in 2018 to bring a different lens to the education, creation, and performance of the artform.
As a queer artist, I have a very deep, personal mission to bring stories to the ballet stage that are unique and not always about a man and woman falling in love.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Absolutely not! Haha! Founding and running a non-profit is constant work and the road forward is not always clear. The COVID lockdown took place during our second year of operation and I have never used the phrase “let’s pivot” so many times. My team was constantly being creative and learning how to simply let go of knowing what would come next.
It also took time to build a robust team within both the artistic and administrative positions needed to keep the organization thriving. We have a very collaborative approach to our strategic planning processes to make sure there are no blind spots.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My work is all about making ballet accessible to everyone. Whether that is as a dancer, an audience member, and choreographer, etc. Ballet, like many traditional, euro-centric artforms, has been very exclusionary in the past. At Ballet Co.Laboratory, we seek to create a studio space and community that embraces and celebrate everyone as they are.
I am most proud of creating Nutcracker in Wonderland. The Nutcracker is one of the most traditional and well-known ballets in the world. With the support and collaboration of many artists, our Nutcracker in Wonderland at Ballet Co.Laboratory celebrates the love story of Clara and Alice and embraces the coming of age stories of both young women as they also find their own identities within the wondrous and unpredictable whirlwind of life.
How do you define success?
Success in creating an organization is defined to me as a community of people who all feel like they belong and matter within supporting, building, and spreading the collective mission.
Pricing:
- Tickets $30-$75
- Single Adult Class $18
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.balletcolaboratory.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/balletcolaboratory
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/balletcolaboratory
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ballet-co-laboratory
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@balletcolaboratory
