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Brett Bonda is now in his 36th season with Richmond Ballet, having served the organization as a dancer, administrator, educator, and director. A dancer with the professional company from 1985-1995, Mr. Bonda performed much of the company’s repertory, dancing lead roles in ballets such as Rodeo and Coppélia, and appearing in the premiere of Stoner Winslett’s original work, Ancient Airs and Dances. After learning of the outreach work done through Lori Klinger and the National Dance Institute, Mr. Bonda elected to retire from the stage to become the Education and Minds In Motion Director for Richmond Ballet. Mr. Bonda served as the program’s artistic and administrative coordinator for 16 years. Additionally, Mr. Bonda has served as the Ballet’s Company Manager, Tour Manager, and video producer, before stepping into his current role as Managing Director, where he has worked closely with members of the Ballet’s Board to oversee the organization’s strategic planning and governance, and to initiate the Road To China project in 2014. Mr. Bonda’s work with Richmond Ballet has been recognized both statewide and nationally: he has served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts and as a juror for the Coming Up Taller Awards, and he is a board member for Virginians for the Arts. In 2001, Mr. Bonda received Richmond Magazine’s Theresa Pollak Award for Excellence in the Arts and, in the summer of 2014, he represented the United States at the U.S.-China Consultation on People-to-People Exchange in Beijing alongside U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Richmond Ballet Artistic Director Stoner Winslett. Mr. Bonda is an alumnus of Virginia Intermont College.