A VIP guest joined the dance company and performers from Cary’s Graceful Expressions Dance Education for a weekend of dance and ballet.
On Friday night (March 3rd), Graceful Expressions introduced Cary’s first professional dance company, the Carolina Dance Theater.
On hand (and on stage) for the world premier at the Cary Arts Center on Friday, was guest-star Frederick Davis, founding director of Tennessee Dance Theater and former dancer of the Dance Theater of Harlem.
“I knew I wanted to come to Cary,” said Davis.
“I wanted an opportunity to share my art in this community becuase I have a passion for this art and want to inspire others. It has been a great experience. I’ve been welcomed with open arms and had a great time working with the students, coaching them. I’ve loved teaching the students and connecting with them. The dancers at Graceful Expressions are truly open, want to learn and are committed to their training. It’s a great vibe,” added Davis.
In addition to the big launch of the professional dance company on Friday night, Davis also partnered with an extended group of performers on Saturday, for a trio of shows called Coppélia.
Coppélia is a mechanical doll, designed by Doctor Coppelius, who is so lifelike that she is able to fool the people in their town that she is alive. Her “father” tries to use magic to bring her to life.
“Coppelia is a fun story — a bit of mystery about an eccentric toy maker and his doll that looks so realistic that it is mistaken by the villagers to be his daughter. With this performance, our goal is to make classical ballet accessible and enjoyable for everyone, so it narrated and abbreviated to just over an hour long, though we retain much of the original choreography just as audiences over the last 150 years have seen it performed,” said April Schweitzer of Graceful Expressions.
As for their VIP, “We are really excited to bring Fred Davis in for these performances, and we’re grateful to the Town of Cary for supplying us with a grant to make that happen. Fred is a dynamic performer and gifted choreographer and instructor who has inspired our dancers and will enrich the audiences! It’s important for us to give our dancers exposure to professional dancers — to learn from them, to watch them, and to help them set goals. When we can have a male dancer, and a Black dancer, this is an extra opportunity as those communities are often underrepresented in ballet and it’s important for those young dancers and audience members to have role models who look like them,” added Schweitzer.
“My dance experience growing up as a kid was one of living in poverty on the streets of Chattanooga. I got into dance because I wanted to go to New York City and perform there and travel the world. I was offered a full scholarship to the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City and then joined Dance Theatre of Harlem in 2008,” said Davis.
Since 2015 Davis have gained experience working with different companies and schools internationally as a freelancer.
“What I’m bringing to the stage in Cary is that background and I hope an opportunity for the audience to see someone performing at the highest level and to inspire people of color in a field where you don’t often find Black men performing classical ballet. I want to inspire the whole community to see how important ballet training is and for everyone to see that it doesn’t matter where you come from, whether you’re young or an adult, you can go take that class and be a part of this beautiful art form,” added Davis.
