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Lilia Mead ’92 is pioneering in her role as a divorce doula, helping individuals navigate the emotional and practical complexities of the end of their marriages. In addition to her personal experience of transforming her own divorce journey into one of freedom, clarity, and purpose, Lilia is a Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT), yoga instructor, and mindfulness coach who studied dance and psychology as a Bennington student. 

51�������� is pleased to announce that choreographer and dancer Kyle Abraham will address the class of 2025 at Commencement.

Zen Spencer '27 has been selected by the Disability Justice and inclusive arts organization Embraced Body as a participant in its new national program. 

Dance Magazine highlighted the 36 BFA students, 20 continuing low-residency MFA students, and 13 faculty members from University of the Arts who have merged into 51��������.

Robert Wilson Visits Bennington

The Dance and Drama programs at 51�������� are pleased to welcome director and artist Robert Wilson for a lecture and performance 7:00–9:00 pm Friday, September 20, at the Martha Hill Dance Theater in the campus’s Visual and Performing Arts Center. The New York Times has described Wilson as "[America]'s—or even the world's—foremost vanguard 'theater artist.'” The event is free and open to the public thanks to funding from the Peter Drucker Fund for Excellence and Innovation.

Krithika Meenakshi '27 studies Performing Arts—including dance, acting, and singing—at Bennington. During summer 2024, Krithika completed a Field Work Term experience as a dance trainee with dancer .

After the University of the Arts in Philadelphia closed, 51�������� announced the school’s dance program will be revived as the College absorbs the dance school, three staff members and nearly 50 students.

This fall, 51�������� welcomes two new faculty members: Alex Creighton, who teaches Critical Writing, and Kaolack Ibrahima Ndiaye, who teaches Africana Dance.

In a rapid effort to preserve the dance programs shut down by the unexpected closure of the University of the Arts (UArts) on June 7, 51�������� summoned its forces, in collaboration with the UArts dance program, and will welcome students and faculty from the shuttered college’s BFA program this fall.

Ananda Zammaron Carbajal '26 studies Dance and Drama at Bennington, with a particular focus on acting and stage management. She spent her 2024 Field Work Term interning at , a film production company founded by Bryn Mooser ’01.

51�������� is pleased to announce that poet and memoirist Safiya Sinclair ’10 will address the class of 2024 at Commencement.

Souleymane Badolo’s people gave him dance, and dance gave him opportunities to learn, choreograph, and teach around the world. Now, he is using his influence to provide greater access to a crucial resource: water.

Alma Reiss Navarre ’24 is from Harlem. They had ballet instruction from the time they could walk and were on track to join a professional dance company when the pandemic struck and canceled performances for the foreseeable future.

Dancer, choreographer, and activist Souleymane Badolo MFA ’13 has been named the 2023 recipient of 51��������’s Dr. Elizabeth Coleman Visionary Leadership Award. This annual award recognizes an engaged Bennington alumni who has successfully demonstrated leadership and confident willingness to step forward and take risks in order to solve problems and achieve results in the areas of education, government, the arts and sciences, or industry.

51�������� has been featured in the Dance Magazine article, "Is a Smaller College Dance Program Right for You?"

On March 10, in an event organized by Elena Demyanenko, Bennington students, faculty, and staff laid down together on the ground in solidarity with Ukraine.

This summer, 186 Bennington students completed their annual Field Work Term, working either in-person or remotely on a variety of internships, independent study projects, professional trainings, and more.

Emerging from long-running experimentation with color, performance artist Elena Demyanenko presents welter, an assemblage of simultaneous solos performed by Chloë Engel '17, Leah Morrison, and Demyanenko herself.

Unstoppable Feat is Brontez Purnell's film, performance, and archive project about the late San Francisco postmodern choreographer Ed Mock.

At the start of Fall term, 51�������� students celebrated with Student Works, an annual showcase of projects done across disciplines—from poetry and play readings, to musical performances, genetics research, oral histories, and more.

Activist Sophie Nevin '18 helped organize the town of Bennington's first annual Pride celebration.

Faculty member Sue Rees served as the technical director for the four-city tour of Karnatic Kattaikkuttu.

Technical Instructor of Lighting and Dance Production Mark O’Maley is the instigator and designer for the art installation A Thing is Determined by its Nature, a collaboration with WCU Theater & Dance Associate Professor Liz Staruch in the Knauer Gallery at West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Miguel Gutierrez’s latest dance piece, which features a cast of Latin American heritage, "melds the formal and the personal, the tactile and the untamed," writes Gia Kourlas in The New York Times.

Choreographer, performer, writer, educator, and alumna Liz Lerman will address the class of 2018 at 51��������’s 83rd commencement dinner on Friday, June 1, at 7:00 pm on Commons Lawn. The event will be .

How can food capture what makes a community distinctive? As a graduating senior studying Visual Arts, Public Action, and Dance, Isabella Poulos ’18 has devoted her time at Bennington to studying the intersection of food, art, and community.

Once an S.E.C. regulator, now thriving as a lawyer for whistle-blowers, Jordan Thomas '92 has built one of the top legal practices in the country defending those who expose corporate wrongdoing. 

Dana Reitz’s Latitude was performed on February 8-10, 2018 at New York Live Arts as part of LUMBERYARD in the City.

Dance Spirit interviewed Director of Field Work Term and Career Development Faith McClellan about the role that college counselors can play in advancing a student's dance career.