Black Ballerina

FRANCES McELROY, Producer/Director, is a 2009 Pew Fellow in the Arts. She is founder of Shirley Road Productions, a 501(c)(3) organization. For 25 years, she has produced documentaries for public television and independent distribution, as well as videos for non-profit organizations. Her awards include the Emmy, Gabriel, CINE Golden Eagle, Latin American Studies Association Award of Merit in Film, IMAGEN, Society of Professional Journalists and the New York Festivals. She has a special interest in the confluence of social justice with arts and culture. Her work also explores the transformative power of art and place.

Frances’ current documentary, BLACK BALLERINA, is in production. It tells the story of passion, heartbreak and resilience through the personal experiences of several ballerinas from different generations who were unable to fulfill their career ambitions due to the color of their skin. An audience engagement and community outreach plan is being developed to spur change and to expand dialogue about issues of race, equity and inclusion. Funders include the National Endowment for the Arts. Frances’ major works have appeared on PBS. The ITVS-funded MIRROR DANCE (2005, co-producer/co-director, 53:00), is a story about Cuban twin sisters. Both former dancers with the National Ballet of Cuba, their once inseparable relationship was ruptured by Cold War politics. It premiered on the PBS series Independent Lens and later played on the PBS World series Global Voices. MAKING WAVES (2011, producer/director, 53:00), looks at the complexities of change and inclusion through the historic blue blood sport of rowing. BALLYCASTLE (2004, producer/director, 27:00) features Jewish American painter Stuart Shils and his transformative encounter with a remote Irish village. AN ANGEL IN THE VILLAGE (1999, producer, 56:40), also supported by ITVS, tells the story of Chinese-born artist Lily Yeh and her use of art for community development and empowerment in North Philadelphia and Nairobi, Kenya.

Prior to becoming independent in 1991, Frances was Director of Program Development and an Emmy award-winning producer at WHYY (PBS Philadelphia). She directed the 1988 international public television INPUT conference which was hosted by WHYY, Annenberg School of Communications, Temple University and International House of Philadelphia. She has served on the INPUT American program selection committee, a judge for the "Set in Philadelphia" Screen Writing Competition, and a proposal reviewer for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and ITVS. Frances has been an instructor at the Scribe Video Center and was a founding board member of the Philadelphia Independent Film/Video Association (PIFVA). Other awards include a 2010 Leeway Foundation Transformation Award and a 1998 Window of Opportunity Award also from Leeway; a Robert Flaherty Seminar artist’s residency, and various professional development grants from the PA Council on the Arts. She earlier served on the staff of the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MASS). Frances is Board VP of the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet Society.