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Ballet Beyond Borders Cultural Crossroads - Diplomacy Conference

Saturday, January 10. University Center Ballroom.

Highlights - full schedule coming soon:

Shawn Lent

Shawn Lent is a social practice dance artist, educator, and nonprofit leader whose work spans from a children’s cancer hospital in revolutionary Egypt to community programs in Chicago. A U.S. Fulbright Scholar and United Nations Alliance of Civilizations International Fellow, she explores embodied peace and the role of the arts in diplomacy and social change. Shawn founded and leads Dance Peace, a program for refugee youth, and actively serves with World Refugee Day Chicago. She spent nearly a decade as Programs and Communications Director at Chicago Dancemakers Forum and previously served as advisor and national coordinator for EducationUSA Egypt. With 30+ years of teaching experience and deep cross-sector practice in accessibility, education, health, and community engagement, she is recognized for building trust across lines of difference and advancing innovative initiatives.
In an era marked by political turmoil, social volatility, and deep divisions, how can dance education serve as a practice of wellness and peace building? Drawing on stories from a pediatric cancer hospital in revolutionary Egypt, community work in East London after 9/11, a camp in post-genocide Northwest Bosnia, and current programs with refugee and migrant youth in Chicago, Shawn Lent shares how movement can cultivate trust, resilience, and human connection across socioreligious lines of difference. A U.S. Fulbright Scholar and United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Fellow, and founder of Dance Peace, Shawn explores how dance can foster empathy, counteract misinformation, and build spaces of belonging in tense conditions. This interactive talk will invite participants to reflect on their own practice and consider: in these times, what can your dance do?


Past Diplomacy Conference videos below:



 

 THE HIDDEN TEARS PROJECT , with Choreographer & Filmmaker Jordan Marinov                                    

Moderator - Julie Sirrs 

Live Performance from Jordan Marinov 

 

Short Film Presentation and stories from the Hidden Tears project   

  

                   Panel Discussion - Jordan Marinov with Clarissa Charlie and  Kya Rae Dede Rose 

 

Exhibit -  The Red Dress Display : Commemorating and honoring the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls 

 

                    Performance -  The Sound of Healing : Jingle Dress Dance - Kya & Clara 

 

10:00 - 10:10AM   Peace-building Performance from the Unison Dance School, Israel.

Introduction by Dana Blecher, Director of Cultural Affairs, the Consulate General of Israel. Director Moran Barak, Dancers Leann Reizer and Elinor Ostrovsky

 

10:10 - 11:00AM    THERE IS ROOM FOR EVERYONE - Sophie Rebecca from the United Kingdom. Presentation and discussion about the new generation of dancers that are challenging Ballets rigid gender norms. Moderated by Dr. Karin Opacich, 

 

11:00 - 11:15AM -  Contemporary Performances from BBB Competitors from Dance City - Marika Derton , Director (VENICE ITALY), Radu Domsa & Alina Ciceo (CLUJ, ROMANIA),  Dancers & Director, Dani Orlo,  Escuela de Cubana (VERACRUZ , MEXICO),   Damon Berry, Kasper the Saint and Phoenix Bunuellos,  (LOS ANGELES, USA).

 

11:15- 11:30AM -   CHINA  & MONTANA  -  OUR CULTURAL BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE 

       Confucius Institute Director Suhan Chen with Charlene Campbell Carey 

   

       Chinese Folk Dance Performance by Angela Wan student of Ming Yan Cui, Chinese Song by Tony Woodward, student at Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre and Peking Opera performance by Nathaniel Puttonen student from the Chan Hon Goh Academy in Vancouver, Canada.

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