Josh Bodden coaxes ephemeral beauty out of Ballet Des Moines, including its upcoming “Four Seasons.”
Writer: Hailey Evans
Photos: Jami Milne
The first leap
Josh Bodden, Ballet Des Moines’ first rehearsal director, is originally from Miami. His first experience with professional ballet came in elementary school, when his class took a field trip to see the Miami City Ballet perform “The Nutcracker.”
The trip was part of the ballet company’s outreach program to connect inner-city schools to the arts. Bodden was mesmerized by the colors and the music. “I had never seen anything like that,” he said. “My mind was blown.”
An enterprising soul even at 10 years old, Bodden called the company later that same day to ask about lessons. The adults on the other end of the line needed to speak to his mom before he could sign up. When he persuaded her to call them, the ballet school offered him free lessons because he was a boy, “and boys are hard to find in classical ballet,” he said.
By his senior year of high school, Bodden was an official member of the Miami City Ballet, touring and performing full time while finishing his classes as a homeschooler. He later moved to New York to join the Dance Theatre of Harlem, then the Cincinnati Ballet and finally the Kansas City Ballet, where he danced for 10 years.
The final bow
“I was destined to be in this world of the arts and dancing,” Bodden said. As a kid, he just wanted to dance. As an adult, he knows that being a Black male classical ballet dancer was unusual. “I was a very rare find, so opportunities were different for me. But one way or another, I was meant to do this,” he said.
He feels lucky to have had such a long career in dance, but an injury at age 28 was a wake-up call to more deeply appreciate his body and his work. He began to understand the necessity of good sleep and nutrition, of physical therapy and strength training. “I fell in love with the gym at 30,” he said.
When he retired from performing at 40, he still felt fortunate. “I sort of slowly retired, I had almost this farewell tour. I ended my season with the Kansas City Ballet where they had a nice little moment for me, and then I went on to perform at the Kennedy Center and Jacob’s Pillow that summer.” He wasn’t sure what his next endeavor would be, but he knew he wanted to continue working in the arts.
The encore
The rehearsal director role is a new one for Ballet Des Moines; it will grow and adapt right along with the company. Bodden, now 41, said he was drawn to the role because of the welcoming and passionate culture the company’s dancers and staff have cultivated.
The rehearsal director facilitates the dancers’ day-to-day schedule and, as the title suggests, oversees rehearsals, DJs the music and notates the steps. He doesn’t choreograph the shows, but he “lives in the studio” to help the dancers improve their craft.
“I think a lot of dancers aren’t given the proper tools or education at the beginning of their careers on what it takes to sustain the day-to-day of a season, and I was one of them,” he said. In his new role, he wants to correct that, to make sure the dancers have the support they need to thrive.
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