Pegasus Contemporary Ballet Statement of Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Inclusion

Vision

At Pegasus Contemporary Ballet, we believe all forms of diversity make us stronger and more thoughtful artists, creators, presenters, and custodians of our artform. Discrimination, injustice, or harassment are not tolerated in our organization or in the artistic process of our work. Promoting a space for a multitude of diverse voices to create and engage with ballet is at the core of what we value. This includes all skin colors, ethnicities, religions, people with disabilities, cultural backgrounds, socio-economic backgrounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities. We expect our community to hold us to these values and encourage open dialogue about how we can continue to listen, evolve, support, and engage with diverse artists, audiences, and communities.

Commitments and Actions

We will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, or hate speech. All forms of discrimination and harassment are unacceptable and will be dealt with in accordance with our formal Workplace Safety Policy.

We recognize historic inequities in our society and industry and are committed to acting as a positive force toward dissolving these inequities and combatting all forms of inequality. As we continue to welcome conversations both internally and within the community at large, we make the following commitments for our organization.

We will make best efforts to develop a diverse and inclusive audience, artist, and community base. This includes:

Producing programming that appeals to audiences and communities of diverse cultural backgrounds, lived experiences, and every level of experience with dance.
Creating inviting and safe spaces for all artists and program attendees.
Continuing to hire highly qualified artists and artistic leaders, such as choreographers and composers, from ALAANA and LGBTQIA+ communities, and commissioning new works by these artists when possible.
Making reasonable efforts to expand communication, marketing, and outreach programming throughout all segments of the Dallas community.
Being intentional about partnering with ALAANA and LGTBQIA+ organizations to bring the highest quality and most honest art, creating cultural exchange and appreciation, not appropriation.

We will make best efforts to expand and maintain access to our organization and programs. This includes:

Using non-discriminatory hiring practices to actively seek all artists and employees who meet our talent and experience criteria.
Seeking out new Board members who have specific cultural knowledge, experience, or perspective that we are lacking.
Working to better understand barriers our audience may face and making every reasonable effort to eliminate such barriers.
Using inclusive language on communications, including job postings.
Making best efforts to ensure our programming is accessible to people with disabilities and working with our venue partners on communication and accommodation when needed.

Pegasus Contemporary Ballet is committed to maintaining an environment where all individuals are treated with dignity and respect. We aim to promote this with the following practices:

Clear, open, and effective communication, as well as clear channels for feedback to all employees.
Promoting positive mental and physical health.
Promoting the acceptance and celebration of diverse attributes such as the style of dancers’ natural hair or dying their shoes to match their skin color, etc.
Create an environment of belonging, where artists, staff, Board, and community members are encouraged and accepted to be their most authentic selves.

Ongoing Efforts

We realize that combating inequity requires thoughtfulness, sensitivity, and the willingness to listen and learn. We commit, as a board and as a community, to continue to welcome and encourage open dialogue about these issues, and evolve our practices and policies as may be found necessary through ongoing conversation.