The Wake Forest Dance Festival is an annual public

arts festival An arts festival is a festival that can encompass a wide range of art forms including music, dance, film, fine art, literature, poetry and is not solely focused on visual arts. Arts festivals may feature a mixed program that include music, lit ...

Wake Forest, North Carolina Wake Forest is a town in Wake and Franklin counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located almost entirely in Wake County, it lies just north of the state capital, Raleigh. At the 2020 census, the population was 47,601, up from 30,117 in ...

. The festival is presented by ARTS Wake Forest and the Wege Foundation in partnership with the Wake Forest Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources. The festival is a one-day event held in Autumn every year at E. Carroll Joyner Park in Wake Forest. It is free to the public. The festival features national and international professional dancers, local choreographers and dancers, and students of local dance schools. The festival is directed by

Masha Dashkina Maddux Mariya "Masha" Dashkina Maddux is a Ukrainian modern dancer and dance teacher. She is a former principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company and is the founder and director of the Wake Forest Dance Festival. Early life and education Mariya ...

, a former principal dancer with the

Martha Graham Dance Company The Martha Graham Dance Company, founded by Martha Graham in 1926, is both the oldest dance company in the United States and the oldest integrated dance company. The company is critically acclaimed in the artistic world and has been recognized as " ...

, and was founded in 2017. The festival has featured performances by the UNCG School of Dance,

Carolina Ballet Carolina Ballet is one of America's arts organizations, programming traditional ballets and new works by contemporary choreographers. The Ballet was launched as a professional company in 1998 under the direction of Founding Artistic Director Rober ...

, Gaspard & Dancers, and the

Paul Taylor Dance Company Paul Taylor Dance Company is a modern dance company, formed by dancer and choreographer Paul Taylor (1930—2018). The modern dance company is based in New York, New York and was founded in 1954. Taylor originally performed in the companies of M ...

. The festival awards scholarships to dance students who are performing.

References

{{reflist Autumn festivals Dance festivals in the United States Dance in North Carolina Festivals in North Carolina Festivals established in 2017 Franklin County, North Carolina Wake Forest, North Carolina Tourist attractions in Wake County, North Carolina 2017 establishments in North Carolina