Boston Conservatory at Berklee Names Mila Thigpen Chair of Dance

Boston Conservatory at Berklee announces the appointment of Mila Thigpen as chair of dance, which will begin on August 15. Thigpen reports to Dean of Dance Tommy Neblett and is a key member of the divisional leadership team.

Prior to her appointment, Thigpen served as Boston Conservatory’s interim chair of dance, and prior to that, as a dance faculty member. A Boston Conservatory alumna, Thigpen began her professional career successfully managing community engagement programs for Boston Ballet and Celebrity Series of Boston. Her impressive work in this area earned her a nomination to UMass Boston’s Emerging Leaders Program, an opportunity rarely offered to artists. She went on to pursue a Master’s in Education degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she was a Conant Fellow.

After returning to the Conservatory as a faculty member, Thigpen developed the Dance and Pop Culture course, as well as the Salsa Technique elective course offered through the Dance Division. Additionally, she contributed to the Conservatory’s Summer Program offerings by creating and directing the school’s summer youth dance program, Day Sessions: Dance.  

Thigpen is a respected dance educator in the Greater Boston area and beyond, having been a guest artist in England, St. Maarten, Dubai, and Cuba. During her tenure at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, she was instrumental in developing a cultural humility professional development curriculum for her colleagues that was aimed at giving teachers tools to improve equity in education. She was also recently featured in Boston Voyager.

Learn more about Mila Thigpen and Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s B.F.A. in contemporary dance program.