Cynthia Pratt

For associate professor of dance Cynthia Pratt, Butler created the opportunity to become truly established within a community.

Pratt came to Butler in 1994, after a free-lance career that took her across Europe. After settling in Indianapolis, she celebrates the stability of the relationships she has built here. "It was a hard transition," Pratt says of her move. "But I wanted to develop deeper and long lasting ties to a community."

Beyond her work with the Butler Ballet, Pratt often works within the Indianapolis community. She recalls Red Thread, her 2002 work with Dance Kaleidoscope, as a career highlight. The original work focused on the process of international adoption, inspired by Pratt's personal experience adopting her daughter from China. Using adopted children in the community, Pratt created a moving piece that was named dance performance of the year by the Indianapolis Star. "It was about the longing for a child as well as all of the hoops and emotions that you go through during the process," Pratt says. "It focused on the idea that families come in a lot of forms, they are defined beyond genetics."

As a professor, Pratt has enjoyed teaching honors courses, which provides her with the opportunity to share aspects of her research with students that wouldn't otherwise be in her classes. She has taught classes on Dadaism and Afro-Caribbean dance, which she studied in Cuba using a grant from Butler. "I'm always trying to develop as an artist and an inquisitive person," she says of her varied interests.

She has found the program at Butler to be a perfect fit for her continually developing interests. "The Butler program has followed a natural evolution to be broader in the understanding of what a career dancer can be. There's an openness to exploring other types of dance and dance careers," she says.

Butler has also been a good fit due to its location. "The arts community in Indianapolis is supportive," she says. "It's a very art-friendly and artist-friendly city."