Courtney J. Boddie is the Director of Education/School Engagement at New Victory Theater. She oversees all programs related to school communities, including the New Victory school partnership program, teacher professional development training in the performing arts, and an innovative approach in the professional development of more than 50 New Victory Teaching Artists. In the last 8 years alone, Ms. Boddie has expanded the theater’s scope of work in such programs as Victory Dance, which provides free dance and dance education to NYC summer schools; Create, a theater-based teacher professional development track for the city’s Pre-K expansion, the largest in the nation; and GIVE, a brand new initiative to address equitable student engagement in inclusion classrooms.
In 2019, TYA/USA awarded Ms. Boddie with the TYA Community Impact Award for her leadership in New Victory SPARK (Schools with the Performing Arts Reach Kids), a robust multi-year arts program that has transformed New York City school communities previously underserved in the arts. Through intensive relationships with schools’ administrative and teaching staff, New Victory SPARK utilizes the theater’s existing school programs—including live performances by international arts companies, a highly trained ensemble of Teaching Artists and smartly-designed classroom curricula—to supply performing arts engagement that is as sustainable, creative and impactful.
During her tenure at New Victory, the Theater received the Arts Education Award (2008) from Americans for the Arts and a special Drama Desk Award (2012) for “...nurturing a love of theater in young people.” Ms. Boddie is the Creator and Host of Teaching Artistry with Courtney J. Boddie, a monthly podcast featuring engaging and investigative interviews, roundtable conversations, and panels with artists and arts education leaders. She is an adjunct professor at NYU Steinhardt. Ms. Boddie is a Hermitage Artist Fellow and is a Women’s Center Media SheSource. She was on the Board of Directors of the Association of Teaching Artists (ATA) for 5 years (President, 2015-17; Treasurer, 2018-19) and served on the Teaching Artist Committee of the NYC Arts in Education Roundtable and the editorial board for the Teaching Artist Journal. Prior to joining The New Victory in 2003, Ms. Boddie was Program Associate for Empire State Partnerships (NYSCA) and a teaching artist for Roundabout Theatre Company. She received her master’s degree from the Educational Theatre program at NYU Steinhardt.