North Carolina Dance Theatre
North Carolina Dance Theatre Artistic Director Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux says heart surgery in 2001 caused him to ask, “Is what you are doing what really makes you happy?” The former principal dancer with the Paris Opera and New York City ballets answered with a resounding yes. Helping to develop the Charlotte-based contemporary ballet company’s dancers, being a part of the local community and working with wife Patricia McBride, also a former NYCB star, have been truly fulfilling.
Now in its 35th anniversary season—and 10th under Bonnefoux and McBride—NCDT is enjoying a time of great success. The company recently completed a well-received 10-state Southern-themed tour, moved into new facilities in the city’s arts district and has been performing to sold-out audiences at home in Charlotte and at its summer home in Chautauqua, New York.
Founded in 1970 by Robert Lindgren at the North Carolina School of the Arts, the company was in financial trouble when Bonnefoux took over in 1996, after then–Artistic Director Salvatore Aiello passed away. Bonnefoux turned things around by building on the eclectic and diverse repertoire Aiello had established and adding his own ballets, works by today’s most sought-after choreographers and masterworks from the likes of Balanchine, Ailey and Taylor.
“Dancers are attracted to the company for the repertoire,” says fourth-year company member Ayisha McMillan. “The works are very physical, and we get to do a lot that is fun to dance and really makes us move.”
The sentiment is echoed by Australian native and third-year company member Sasha Janes: “One of the main reasons I stay in America is I find the company’s repertoire so interesting. It is whole new way of moving for me.”
The repertoire has helped attract and educate audiences in Charlotte, and with its highly talented and fearless corps, NCDT has solidified itself as a major draw.
“It takes time for a city to get into the habit of seeing a dance company as its own and not just one passing through. The company has been in Charlotte for 15 years now, and the city has really embraced it,” says Bonnefoux.
NCDT’s knowledgeable staff has also boosted the company’s reputation. “I really can’t say enough about Patty [McBride] as a coach and a mentor,” says 15-year company veteran Kati Hanlon-Mayo. “She is phenomenal, relentless and does not let you get away with anything. She has an immense passion for dance that you can see in everything she does.”
Generous, positive and calm are words used by NCDT’s dancers to describe the company’s working environment. That sense of ease has translated into a camaraderie among the company’s dancers that is palpable onstage.
“The heyday for the company is right now,” says Hanlon-Mayo. “We have so many talented, young and experienced dancers and a repertoire that is ripe for us. It is a very exciting time.”
Steve Sucato is a dancer turned writer/critic based in Erie, PA. He writes regularly for several newspapers.
