Ellice Patterson

Founder and Executive Director, Abilities Dance

Ellice Patterson is the founder/ executive and artistic director of Abilities Dance, a Boston-based dance company that welcomes artists with and without disabilities. She currently serves on the board of Massachusetts Cultural Council. She was an artist in residence with the City of Boston’s transportation department, using dance as a way to promote more accessibility on the streets and sidewalks of the city 2022 - 2023. She has also served as the executive director of BalletRox 2020 - 2022, a Boston-based dance education nonprofit.

She has won the 2020 Ten Outstanding Young Leaders Award from Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and the 2024 Bill Allan Award for Grassroots Advocacy from Disability Policy Consortium. Abilities Dance under her leadership has won the 2020 UP Award from Mass Cultural Council for our achievements in accessibility across the Commonwealth and the 2023 Equity Award from Boston Cultural Council for our commitment to equity in the arts. Outside of self-produced Abilities Dance's shows, her choreography has appeared in the MFA, Links Hall in Chicago, Gibney Dance in NYC, The Series: Vol IV at the Ailey Citigroup Theatre in NYC, and more.

She has given lectures and workshops at schools, universities, and organizations across the country, including Harvard Graduate School of Education, Fidelity Investments, Boston University, and more. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences from Wellesley College and her Masters of Science in Management Studies from Boston University Questrom School of Business. Patterson sailed from Massachusetts to Ireland and conducted research in the Atlantic and Caribbean oceans on coastal runoff, sponge species, and spider habitats! She is a passionate researcher and science communicator, dedicated to uplifting Black women in STEM through her ongoing series with the Discovery Museum.