Charlotte Ballet is the oldest professional ballet company in North Carolina. It was founded as North Carolina Dance Theatre in Winston-Salem by Robert Lindgren, who was then Dean of Dance at the

University of North Carolina School of the Arts The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) is an arts school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It grants high school, undergraduate, and graduate degrees. Founded in 1963 as the North Carolina School of the Arts by then-Govern ...

, in 1970. It moved to Charlotte in 1990 and rebranded as Charlotte Ballet in 2014. It currently has 26 dancers and is the parent company of the Charlotte Ballet Academy.

Artistic Staff

* Alejandro Cerrudo - Artistic Director * Douglas Singleton - Executive Director *

Patricia McBride Patricia McBride (born August 23, 1942 in Teaneck, New Jersey) is a ballerina who spent nearly 30 years dancing with the New York City Ballet. McBride joined the New York City Ballet in 1959. She became a principal in 1961, becoming the company's ...

- Associate Artistic Director & Master Teacher * Christopher Stuart - Director of Charlotte Ballet II * Traci Gilchrest Kubie - Rehearsal Director

Dancers

Company

Charlotte Ballet II

Trainees

Repertoire

Charlotte Ballet has performed an extensive repertoire over the years. With two of the company's leaders,

and

Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux (born 9 April 1943, in Bourg en Bresse, France) is a French ballet dancer and instructor. He is the former artistic director of the Charlotte Ballet and the Chautauqua Institution. At 14, Bonnefoux joined the Paris Opera ...

having extensive ties to

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...

and

Jerome Robbins Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television. Among his nu ...

and major contemporary dance choreographer

Dwight Rhoden Dwight Rhoden is an American choreographer and artistic director of Complexions Contemporary Ballet who began dancing at the age of 17 while studying acting. He has performed with the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Les Ballet Jazz de Montréa ...

being the choreographer-in-residence, Charlotte Ballet has become a major hub for neoclassical and contemporary work.

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...

Agon Agon ( Greek ) is a Greek term for a conflict, struggle or contest. This could be a contest in athletics, in chariot or horse racing, or in music or literature at a public festival in ancient Greece. Agon is the word-forming element in 'agony', ...

* Allegro Brillante *

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

* Concerto Barocco * Divertimento No. 15 * The Four Temperaments * La Sonnambula * A Midsummer Night's Dream * Pas de Dix *

Raymonda Variations ''Raymonda Variations'', formerly titled ''Valses et Variations'', is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to excepts from Alexander Glazunov's score for the 1898 ballet '' Raymonda''. Instead of following the plot of the 1898 ballet, the ...

* Rubies *

Scotch Symphony ''Scotch Symphony'' is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3, "Scottish". The ballet is inspired by Scotland, and evokes the style of the romantic ballet era, particularly ''La Sylphide'', which is set in Sco ...

Serenade In music, a serenade (; also sometimes called a serenata, from the Italian) is a musical composition or performance delivered in honor of someone or something. Serenades are typically calm, light pieces of music. The term comes from the Itali ...

* Square Dance * Stars and Stripes * Stravinsky Violin Concerto *

Tarantella () is a group of various southern Italian folk dances originating in the regions of Calabria, Campania and Puglia. It is characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, usually in time (sometimes or ), accompanied by tambourines. It is among the mo ...

Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux ''Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux'' is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to a composition by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky originally intended for act 3 of ''Swan Lake'' (Op. 20, 1875–76). With costumes by Barbara Karinska and lighting by Jack Owe ...

* Valse Fantaisie *

Walpurgisnacht Walpurgis Night (), an abbreviation of Saint Walpurgis Night (from the German ), also known as Saint Walpurga's Eve (alternatively spelled Saint Walburga's Eve), is the eve of the Christian feast day of Saint Walpurga, an 8th-century abbess ...

Western Symphony ''Western Symphony'' is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine to American folk tunes arranged by Hershy Kay. It premiered on September 7, 1954 at the City Center of Music and Drama in New ...

* Who Cares?

Marius Petipa Marius Ivanovich Petipa (russian: Мариус Иванович Петипа), born Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa (11 March 1818), was a French ballet dancer, pedagogue and choreographer. Petipa is one of the most influential ballet masters an ...

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...

Sleeping Beauty ''Sleeping Beauty'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...

* Raymonda * Paquita *

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of West ...

Jiří Kylián Jiří Kylián (born 21 March 1947) is a Czech former dancer and contemporary dance choreographer. Life Jiří Kylián was born in 1947 in Prague, Czechoslovakia, to his father Václav who was a banker and to his mother Markéta, who was as a ...

* Sechz Tänze * Forgotten Land

Twyla Tharp Twyla Tharp (; born July 1, 1941) is an American dancer, choreographer, and author who lives and works in New York City. In 1966 she formed the company Twyla Tharp Dance. Her work often uses classical music, jazz, and contemporary pop music. Fr ...

Nine Sinatra Songs ''Nine Sinatra Songs'' is a ballet choreographed by Twyla Tharp to songs sung by Frank Sinatra. The ballet is danced by seven couples, portraying different stages of romantic relationships, with ballroom dancing incorporated into the choreography. ...

* The Golden Section

Alvin Ailey Alvin Ailey Jr. (January 5, 1931 – December 1, 1989) was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Center ...

* The River * Night Creature

Dwight Rhoden Dwight Rhoden is an American choreographer and artistic director of Complexions Contemporary Ballet who began dancing at the age of 17 while studying acting. He has performed with the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Les Ballet Jazz de Montréa ...

* The Groove * Spun to The Sky * Bop Doo Wah * Alleged Dances * Artifice * Othello * Peace Piece * Sit In Stand Out * Gateways * Ballad Unto * Broken Fantasy

William Forsythe

* In the middle, somewhat elevated

Sasha Janes

* Sketches from Grace * Lascia la Spina Cogli la Rosa * We Danced Through Life * Shelter * You're So Fine * Queen * Last Lost Chance * Utopia * Facsimile * The Weight of Darkness * At First Sight * Rhapsodic Dances * The Four Seasons * Dangerous Liaisons * The Seed and Soil * Chaconne

Alonzo King

* Salt * Map

Other Classics

Nutcracker A nutcracker is a tool designed to open nuts by cracking their shells. There are many designs, including levers, screws, and ratchets. The lever version is also used for cracking lobster and crab shells. A decorative version portrays a person w ...

(Choreographed by Salvatore Aiello, then Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux) * Cinderella (Choreographed by Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux) * Romeo and Juliet (Choreographed by Jean Pierre Bonnefoux) *

Carmina Burana ''Carmina Burana'' (, Latin for "Songs from Benediktbeuern" 'Buria'' in Latin is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreverent ...

(Choreographed by Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux) * The Little Mermaid (Choreographed by Mark Diamond) * Peter Pan (Choreographed by Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux) * Wuthering Heights (Choreographed by Sasha Janes) * Carmen (Choreographed by Sasha Janes)

Education

Charlotte Ballet is the parent company to the Charlotte Ballet Academy, formerly the North Carolina Dance Theatre School of Dance. The school was founded in September 1993. By 1997, 3 satellite locations had been established to accommodate the then 5 level divisions and an Open Division. The school now offers a conservatory program, developed in 2004, for serious dance students who wishes to incorporate their dance classes with their academics.

References

External links

NC Dance Theatre's Facebook Page
{{authority control Dance companies in the United States Ballet companies in the United States Ballet schools in the United States Culture of Charlotte, North Carolina Dance in North Carolina Performing groups established in 1970 1970 establishments in North Carolina