Dance Theatre of Harlem and UNCSA forge new multiyear partnership

Dear UNCSA Community, 

I am delighted to share that UNCSA and Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) today announced a multiyear partnership, uniting our two esteemed institutions to elevate educational and professional opportunities for our students in the School of Dance, and provide opportunities to revitalize iconic works from the DTH canon as well as co-curate new works and creative projects.

Through the partnership, student dancers from UNCSA will have the extraordinary opportunity to train with the renowned artists of Dance Theatre of Harlem in New York while dancers from DTH will visit the UNCSA campus in Winston-Salem to conduct educational activities and performances on campus and throughout North Carolina.

The DTH-UNCSA partnership is made possible with funding and programmatic support from The Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts and is part of a larger effort to expand and evolve industry partnerships for UNCSA, a pillar of UNCSA Forward, our strategic plan. Partnerships like these benefit our students with professional opportunities and elevate their training and UNCSA experience. The School of Dance has been a leader at UNCSA in the area of industry partnerships, and now has relationships with both DTH and American Ballet Theatre, with whom it has been an educational affiliate since 2011.

The first phase of the partnership will culminate with performances of Dance Theatre of Harlem’s iconic “Firebird,” during Spring Dance at High Point Theatre, April 25-27, featuring original choreography and costumes, and with DTH company artists Alexandra Hutchinson and Derek Brockington dancing lead roles on opening night. Several of our student dancers traveled to New York over spring break to train with  former DTH principal dancers Charmaine Hunter and Donald Williams for this production.The UNCSA Symphony Orchestra, conducted by School of Music faculty member Mark Norman, will perform Stravinsky’s score, and will record “Firebird” for future DTH performances on the university’s new label, UNCSA Media. 

Following the UNCSA performances, the work will continue to evolve, ultimately returning to Dance Theatre of Harlem’s repertoire in future seasons, with UNCSA student dancers performing as guests in the corps de ballet at select engagements. 

So as you can see, there are myriad ways in which this partnership will benefit our student artists. It exemplifies our commitment to providing our students with unparalleled opportunities for artistic growth and professional development. By collaborating with one of the world's most esteemed dance companies, with a proven mission of educating the next generation of diverse artists, we are ensuring that our students receive training at the highest level, further positioning them for success in their careers. 

We are so fortunate to have Dean Endalyn Outlaw – herself a former principal dancer with Dance Theatre of Harlem and former director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem School – to help forge such impactful partnerships, and we are immensely grateful to the Kenan Institute for their visionary support.

I can’t wait to see what this new partnership has in store in the coming years, and the ways in which all the schools at UNCSA can benefit from this collaboration as we move forward with new ideas for leveraging our work together. 

Sincerely,

Brian Cole 
Chancellor