New Dialect

New Dialect is a professional contemporary dance company based in Nashville, TN. Choreographer, dancer, and Juilliard graduate Banning Bouldin founded New Dialect in 2013 out of a desire to build a sustainable ecosystem for contemporary dance artists to live, learn, and collaborate in her hometown. That work continues. 

Today, New Dialect fosters the Nashville dance ecosystem and represents the American South as artistic ambassadors within the larger national dance ecology. We offer workshops and residencies to professional and pre-professional dance artists, and produce performances for the stage, the screen, and site- specific installations—partnering with organizations and individuals across disciplines to develop new works. 

New Dialect has received national recognition for these efforts in the form of awards, nominations, and fellowships, and has been featured in articles in Dance Magazine, Dance Teacher, Dance Spirit, and The New York Times. As a touring company, we have performed and presented work at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, OZ Arts Nashville, Carolina Performing Arts, Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Perry Mansfield’s New Works Festival, Art Prize, Cheekwood, Zeitgeist Gallery, and Track One, among others. 

Recent and upcoming productions include Broken Theater a co-production with American Modern Opera Company (2022) presented by Carolina Performing Arts; 21 Yeses, a mesmerizing light installation and contemporary dance performance choreographed by Banning Bouldin, commissioned and presented by EOA Architects for Nashville Design Week (2023), Tennessee Performing Arts Center (2024), and The Wortham Center for the Performing Arts (2026); as well as two new works currently in process by Bouldin and slated for premieres in Asheville, NC and Nashville, Echo Mother (2026) and Declaration (2027). 

New Dialect has received funding support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Mellon Foundation, South Arts, The National Center for Choreography at the University of Akron, Tennessee Arts Commission, Metro Nashville Arts Commission, Tanne Foundation, Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, Danner Foundation, and several devoted individuals. 

For more information please visit: newdialect.org.

Artist Fee: $18,000-$25,000 for 1-2 public performances, including 2 educational/community engagement activities such as a masterclass for dancers, artist talk, open rehearsal, and/or creative process workshop for people of all skill levels.
Availability: September 25 - December 13, 2026 
January 22 - June 30, 2027

Contact 
Email Lauren Snelling 
www.newdialect.org
Instagram | Facebook | Press Kit

Explore the Artist's Work
21 Yeses (trailer) 

21 Yeses (50 min)  
premiered at TPAC (2024) 
forthcoming presentation, Wortham Center (2026)

The Triangle (50 min)  
premiered at OZ Arts
Jacob's Pillow (2019-2020)