LEAP Student Nardia Boodoo Strives for More Inclusive Ballet
Nardia Boodoo didn’t start dancing seriously until she was a freshman in high school. Though she was late to dance, she’s taken it by storm. Having made the initial audition at the Baltimore School of the Arts at 14, she received a scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago, and is now a company member in the Washington Ballet. She is also a model with the Wilhelmina International agency, all while working toward a bachelor’s degree through the LEAP Program at Saint Mary’s. The LEAP (Liberal Education for Arts Professionals) Program is designed for students to earn a bachelor’s degree in Performing Arts while balancing the demands of professional life.
When Boodoo started at the Washington Ballet, she was one of two Black dancers in the company. She faced the insidious discrimination found in traditional standards of beauty magnified by the dance profession. In the article in the Washingtonian, she detailed issues such as “having to straighten curly hair, receiving costumes with mesh that doesn’t match their skin tone, wearing the pink tights that make light-skinned dancers look lithe but appear to chop inches off those with darker complexions.”
The article describes how after the killing of George Floyd last summer and the Black Lives Matter protests that followed, Boodoo decided it was time to speak out about her experiences during an all-company meeting over Zoom. Then, she demanded action. She organized an online book study for members of the company, and met with colleagues of color to discuss more ideas on education and inclusion within the company. Boodoo told the Washingtonian that “she feels hopeful the company will evolve.”
Bigger Than Ballet
Boodoo has almost 50k followers on Instagram under the handle @narstarr. For a dancer outside of New York, this is almost unheard of, the article says. Following in the footsteps of Misty Copeland, who broke through many firsts for Black ballerinas, Boodoo hopes to continue the work of making ballet a more inclusive place for girls that look like her. Her outreach on social media could play a huge part in showing girls of color that it’s possible to dream big and reach their goals—just like Boodoo is. As Boodoo told the Washington Post, “I represent something bigger than myself.”
In the Post, Boodoo admitted that she’s not sure what life would look like outside of ballet dancing. Her degree through LEAP is an assurance to a smooth transition into retirement. This may be pursuing dance through a new outlet, such as teaching. She isn’t quite sure what that’ll look like yet. That seems to be OK. She has plenty to do in her current moment.
Read more about Boodoo’s story in The Washingtonian and The Washington Post.
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