San Francisco Ballet (SF Ballet) has selected Jennie Scholick as Director of Education and Training, following an executive search process led by Arts Consulting Group (ACG). She began her tenure on May 10, 2021.
Ms. Scholick’s career has spanned arts management, scholarship, and teaching, both in higher education and performing arts organizations. She has held various roles at SF Ballet since joining the organization in 2017, including Associate Director of Audience Engagement, Associate Director of Audience Development, and, most recently, Interim Director of Education and Training. While at SF Ballet, Ms. Scholick launched and curated the organization’s public programming, adult education, and audience development initiatives. She also spearheaded its audience cultivation programs, including The List, ENCORE!, and SENSORIUM. She served as project manager for the varied engagement programs associated with SF Ballet’s Unbound: A Festival of New Works. During this time, Ms. Scholick organized Boundless: A Symposium on Ballet’s Future, an event that brought together artists, scholars, and critics to discuss the form in relation to new work, technology, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Ms. Scholick’s research has appeared in a number of publications, including the recently published Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet. A member of the 2015 Mellon Dance Studies Summer Seminar, she has presented at conferences such as the Dance Studies Association/Congress on Research in Dance, National Dance Education Organization, and OPERA America. In addition, she has presented her work in the public humanities at the Stanford PhD Pathways Conference, at UCLA’s Scholars@Work seminar, and at the Dance Studies Association as part of a roundtable titled “Dance Studies in the Commons: Public Dance Scholarship outside the Academy.” Ms. Scholick earned a bachelor of arts from Princeton University, where she graduated magna cum laude, and a doctor of philosophy in comparative literature from the University of California, Los Angeles.
“I’m pleased to accept the permanent position of Director of Education and Training at SF Ballet,” says Ms. Scholick. “It’s truly an honor to work with such a world-class team and I especially look forward to partnering closely with School Director Patrick Armand. The past decade has seen both SF Ballet School and the Education programs, including our Dance in Schools and Communities residency program, flourish and I’m pleased to build on those successes. We’re also at a crucial moment of transition for the art form: we know that there’s a need and desire to make this art form more accessible and inclusive both for its participants and its audiences and I believe SF Ballet is well-poised to do so. I’m excited to take this work forward in the upcoming months and years as we navigate our new normal.”
“Best wishes to Jennie Scholick as she continues her success with San Francisco Ballet,” said ACG President Bruce D. Thibodeau. “Ms. Scholick’s passion for arts education, dedication to community engagement, and proven track record of success in creating innovative and inclusive programming made her an ideal candidate to assume the position of Director of Education and Training.”
Photo Credit: Murray Bognovitz
July 2021