Urbanity Dance is a nonprofit arts organization that exists to inspire, engage, and empower individuals and communities through the art of dance and movement.
At Urbanity, we believe dance belongs to everyone — not just those who can afford it, or who grew up with access to it, or who fit a narrow idea of what a dancer looks like. Founded by Director Betsi Graves in 2011, we set out to make dance a force for real change in Boston: as a tool for healing, a pathway to professional opportunity, and a space where every body is welcome. Through three interconnected pillars of Community, School, and Company we show up for our city every single day.
Community
Community isn't a program at Urbanity, it's our purpose. Movement Meets offers free, customized dance classes that meet life-altering diagnoses with the cultural prescription of movement, serving people experiencing breast cancer, stroke, psychosis, addiction, homelessness, and including specialized tracks like Dance with Parkinson's and Age Thrive. Developed in partnership with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, McLean Psychiatric Hospital, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Pine Street Inn, and more, our programs welcome participants referred directly by clinicians and caseworkers. The Anmol Mehra Access for All Fund ensures cost is never a barrier, covering up to 100% of tuition so a child's zip code never determines whether they get to dance. Through Partnerships at Urbanity, we bring movement into Boston Public Schools and beyond; our Teen Leadership Program trains Boston high schoolers in teaching, choreography, and arts administration; and our partnership with Afrobeats Dance Boston shares UDHQ enriching dance in our city.
School
The School at Urbanity Dance offers high quality training in a wide range of styles for over 500 students of all ages and experience levels each year. Our faculty, drawn from diverse cultural and dance backgrounds, nurture each student through a structured, joyful classroom environment built on growth, discipline, and self-expression. We teach to the whole dancer, supporting students' emotional, social, and physical well-being so they leave not just as better movers, but as more fully empowered people. From toddlers finding their footing to adults discovering dance for the first time, there is a place for everyone at Urbanity.
Company
Urbanity is a home for professional dancers and a connector of talent across Boston and beyond. We book artists and dancers for paid professional performance opportunities, invest in emerging work through the Urbanity X residency program, support Boston-based artists balancing full professional lives with a serious commitment to concert-style modern dance through Urbanity 2, and develop the next generation of performers through Junior Apprentice program.
With a blend of disciplines spanning contemporary, modern jazz, and breakdance, the Company has been recognized as one of Boston's Best by Improper Bostonian, a "Best of Boston" winner by Boston Magazine, and a Top Ten Critics' Pick by The Boston Globe, and has presented work at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, The Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater, and the Institute of Contemporary Art, among many others.