UNCSA to host Festival of North Carolina Dance Feb. 25-27

The School of Dance at UNCSA will once again host the Festival of North Carolina Dance on its Winston-Salem campus for 2022. More than 450 students from 31 schools, studios and companies across the state are expected to attend.

The festival, which opens today and runs to Sunday, Feb. 27, will include three days of classes for students and professional development workshops for teachers and directors. Participants will also have the opportunity to attend the UNCSA Winter Dance performance, which runs Feb. 24-27 at the Stevens Center, and to audition for the UNCSA Summer Dance intensive. 

“The Festival of North Carolina Dance has been a mainstay of our state’s vibrant dance community for many years,” said School of Dance Dean Endalyn Taylor. “We are happy to be able to return to in-person instruction this year and to make those all-important connections for the future.”

The festival was conducted virtually in 2021 due to COVID-19. This year, in keeping with the university’s Community Health Standards, masks will be required for all participants while indoors.

“I’m excited that we are back on campus this year,” said UNCSA faculty member and Festival Director Dayna Fox. “The enthusiasm from the participants is always palpable and promising.

“We have a stellar faculty for the festival, including UNCSA resident faculty, alumni and guest artists,” Fox added. An alumna herself, Fox is also former director of the Preparatory Dance Program at UNCSA.

Dance alumnus Robert Gosnell will be returning as festival co-director.

Student classes at the festival will include ballet and contemporary technique, pointe and pre-pointe, creative movement, jazz, musical theater, and character dance. The professional development workshops include concepts in composition and choreography, dance injury prevention and recovery, and training young dancers.

The festival will culminate with a gala performance of selected companies, chosen through an adjudication process, for festivalgoers and their families, Sunday evening, Feb. 27, at the Stevens Center.

Dance companies participating this year include: Apex – Studio One Dance Center; Asheville – Center Stage Dance Studio, Terpsicorps Ballet Academy; Burlington –Burlington Academy of Dance & Arts,  Burlington Dance Center, Faith Christian Academy of Dance, Walkerdance Ballet Theatre; Chapel Hill – Ballet School of Chapel Hill, Triangle Youth Ballet; Charlotte – Baran Dance, Charlotte Cirque and Dance, Charlotte School of Ballet; Davidson – Dance Davidson; Gastonia – Gaston Dance Theatre; Greensboro – Dance Project; Greenville – Greenville Civic Ballet; Havelock – The Center for the Performing Arts; Jacksonville – Riverwalk Youth Ballet; Kinston – Studio 86; Raleigh – Carolina Civic Ballet, City Ballet Raleigh, North Carolina Dance Institute, Raleigh Dance Theatre, Stage Door Dance Productions; Statesville – Statesville Dance and Performing Arts; and Wilmington – Dance Theatre of DREAMS, Evolution Dance Complex, GAGA Studios, South East Dance Academy, Wilmington Conservatory of Fine Arts.

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