Staff Spotlight: Who is Toby Lewellen?

In this month’s staff spotlight, we highlight Boca Ballet Theatre’s Toby Lewellen! A longtime lover of dance, Mr. Lewellen brings his background in ballet and his dance and arts administration expertise to BBT as our Development Director! But who is Mr. Lewellen, and how did he become a member of the BBT family?

Toby Lewellen is originally from Peoria, Illinois, where he trained at Peoria Ballet Academy. He studied Dance and Arts Administration at Butler University, and in 2011, he joined Ballet Arkansas, where he performed in lead roles in The Nutcracker, Cinderella, Coppélia, Swan Lake, Agnes de Mille’s The Other Pas de Deux, Christopher Wheeldon’s The American Pas de Deux, and George Balanchine‘s Who Cares? In addition to dancing, he was a Community Cast Ballet Master, working with the community cast to set and polish choreography for The Nutcracker and Cinderella. Mr. Lewellen has also taught in multiple studios in the Little Rock Area. He was the Summer Residence Director and Summer Faculty at the Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia.

During his career, Mr. Lewellen performed all over the country as a guest artist, including here at Boca Ballet Theatre! His first performance with BBT was in Graduation Ball in 2012. After retiring from Ballet Arkansas in May, Mr. Lewellen is thrilled to be joining the team at Boca Ballet Theatre!

Of everything in BBT’s amazing repertoire, Mr. Lewellen is most excited to see Giselle onstage! “It’s been one of my favorite ballets since I had the opportunity to perform it growing up,” he says. “The story is one of my favorites in classical ballet, and the music is amazing!” We couldn’t agree more!

We hope you’ll say hello to Mr. Lewellen next time you visit BBT! We are certainly lucky to have his knowledge and his passion for dance on our staff!