UNCSA alumnus, Dance Professor Jared Redick named 2026 UNC Board of Governors Excellence in Teaching Award winner

UNCSA School of Dance alumnus and Professor Jared Redick has been named recipient of a 2026 University of North Carolina (UNC) Board of Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching. He joined the UNCSA School of Dance faculty in 2013 and currently serves as assistant dean of ballet.

Redick is one of 17 outstanding faculty members representing all 16 of North Carolina’s public universities and the N.C. School of Science and Mathematics chosen to receive the awards. Recipients were nominated by special committees at each institution and selected by the Board of Governors Committee on Educational Planning, Policies, and Programs.

“These extraordinary faculty reflect the best of our university System,” said UNC Board of Governors Chair Wendy Murphy. “They have dedicated their lives to mentoring and inspiring our students, and we celebrate their contributions. Congratulations to all the winners.”

UNCSA Chancellor Brian Cole said, “Through his early training and career success as a professional dancer, Jared Redick has developed a gift for helping young dancers grow with confidence, discipline and joy. He brings both extensive experience and genuine care into the studio every day. As a distinguished alumnus and an inspiring teacher, he embodies the artistic excellence, rigor and commitment to the art form and student success that define our School of Dance. This award from the UNC Board of Governors is a recognition of the difference he makes in the lives of our students.”

Each of the UNC Board of Governors Excellence in Teaching Award winners will receive a commemorative bronze medallion and a $12,500 cash prize and will be honored at each of their institutions at a future date. The awards were established by the Board of Governors in 1994 to highlight the importance of teaching and to recognize the extraordinary contributions of faculty members systemwide.

Last month, six permanent faculty members and one adjunct faculty member at UNCSA were named winners of the UNCSA Excellence in Teaching Awards for 2025-26, announced Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Patrick J. Sims.

Permanent faculty recipients are: Scott Beckwith, given posthumously, School of Design and Production; Jason Bohon, School of Drama; Marci Harvey, High School Academic Program; Laura Martin, School of Dance; Jared Redick, School of Dance; and Burton Rencher, School of Filmmaking. The adjunct faculty recipient is Ida Bieler, School of Music.

About Jared Redick

School of Dance Assistant Dean Jared Redick began his ballet training in Reston, Virginia, under the guidance of his mother, Julia Cziller Redick.

A graduate of the High School ballet program at UNCSA, he studied under founding Dean of Dance Robert Lindgren. Redick furthered his training at prestigious institutions such as Mikhail Baryshnikov’s School of Classical Ballet and the School of American Ballet.

Redick’s professional career took off with the San Francisco Ballet, and he later performed as a soloist with the Miami City Ballet, the Suzanne Farrell Ballet and the Boston Ballet. In Boston, he danced a broad repertoire spanning a wide range of styles, including principal roles in works by Marius Petipa, John Cranko, GeorgeBalanchine, Jorma Elo, Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe, Antony Tudor, Sir Frederick Ashton and Twyla Tharp.

After retiring from the stage in 2009, Redick began teaching both nationally and internationally, with engagements at institutions such as the Royal Danish Ballet School, Tivoli Ballet Theatre, Houston Ballet School, Orlando Ballet School, Nashville Ballet School, Charlotte Ballet and Yale University. He has also served as a guest ballet master and companyrehearsal director/teacher with American Ballet Theatre, Houston Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet and Oregon Ballet Theatre, as well as the Royal Danish Ballet and the Finnish National Ballet.

Before joining the UNCSA faculty, he served as artistic director of the New Haven Ballet and the principal of the South Shore Satellite of the Boston Ballet School. His passion for teaching took root during his final season dancing with the Boston Ballet, while he was simultaneously directing the satellite school and choreographing “Peter and the Wolf.” “Watching the whole process, I was taken back to my childhood, sitting in the corner of my mother’s studio with my brother, eating pizza, playing with matchbox cars," Redick recalls. “During that production I understood my future was in passing forward the knowledge and support I had been so generously given.”

For many years, Redick directed UNCSA’s annual production of “The Nutcracker,” which Dance Teacher magazine recognized as one of the nation’s best holiday productions. Since 2021, Redick has served as an adjudicator for YoungArts, furthering his commitment to nurturing and recognizing young talent. In addition to serving as the interim dean of the School of Dance for the 2020-21 school year, Redick received both the prestigious Excellence in Teaching Award and the inaugural Academic Leadership Fellowship in 2022.

Redick’s presence in the studio is defined by a rare ability to accelerate a dancer’s growth while maintaining a supportive atmosphere. As one student nomination for the UNCSA Teaching Award noted, “Mr. Redick is an extraordinary ballet teacher whose guidance has sped my training from my very first year at UNCSA. ... His teaching has not only strengthened my technique but also expanded my artistry, discipline and appreciation for ballet as both a classical and evolving form. His classes are rigorous yet deeply supportive, challenging yet always encouraging, and they consistently leave me motivated to grow.” Another student shared, “Mr. Redick shares funny stories and encourages us to stay positive by sharing a positive thing that we experienced/witnessed. ... He knows how to keep students engaged and progressing.” Ultimately, his classroom success is recognized far beyond the university's walls.

As a faculty nomination emphasized: “Jared's dedication, aptitude and results working with our students in the studio more than qualify him to receive this award. What's more, those skills are recognized both regionally and abroad in the dance community.”

Redick is a recipient of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Award for Exceptional Artistic Achievement. In 2012, he was appointed as an associate fellow of Pierson College at Yale University. Since 2013, he has been a judge and master teacher for the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP).

Redick earned a High School Diploma from UNCSA and a Master of Fine Arts in dance from Hollins University (Virginia) and is working toward a Master of Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He holds advanced certification from the National Academy of Sports Medicine.

This past year, he created and continues to host the “Company Secrets” podcast, “dedicated to demystifying the professional dance world for aspiring dancers through candid conversations with artistic directors and industry leaders.”

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