Hope Boykin - educator, creator, mover, and motivator - was born and raised in Durham, North Carolina. She was a three-time recipient of the American Dance Festival’s Youth Tuition Scholarship, and while attending Howard University in Washington, DC, she continued to pursue her desire to dance, working with choreographer Lloyd Whitmore and his New World Dance Company. In New York City, Hope studied at The Ailey School and worked as an assistant to choreographers Milton Meyers and the late Talley Beatty.
Hope was an original member of Complexions, and joined Philadanco, where she received the acclaimed “Bessie,” a New York dance and performance award. In 2020, she completed her 20th and final season with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and created work as a 2019-20 Urban Bush Women Choreographic Center Fellow.
She has choreographed for numerous dance companies including Philadanco, Minnesota Dance Theater, and Dallas Black Dance Theatre. In 2016, Hope presented her third work of choreography for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater called r-Evolution, Dream. Hope had the honor to choreograph, write, and perform with New York City Ballet Principal dancer Lauren Lovette in MomentsUponMoments, which was redesigned for the 2019 Vail Dance Festival. In 2020, she created a work for BalletX and the Guggenheim Works & Process Virtual Commissions program, and she is a returning keynote speaker for Lincoln Center Activate, a national education forum.
Serving as Artistic Lead for the Kennedy Center Dance Lab, a two-week summer dance program for high school students, and Artist-in-Residence at USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance is confirmation of the mission of HopeBoykinDance, which includes leading young and aspiring artists to a secure foundation and a concrete understanding, which develops a confidence and assurance that will be unmatched.