(RALEIGH) – Mary LeGere, Artistic Director, announces the Spring 2013 season of Raleigh Dance Theatre (RDT).  Raleigh Dance Theatre will present its Spring Repertoire Performances on Saturday April 27, 2013 at 2pm and 7pm in Fletcher Opera Theater at Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts. General admission tickets for all performances are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Group rates are also available.

The performances will feature the ballet classics Paquita, and Coppelia Act I the comedic story of Frantz and his infatuation with both a village girl, Swanilda, and a doll, Coppelia, with life like qualities.  Also on the program are Lisa Yount’s An Act of Support and RDT Alumnus Amy Greene’s Inadvertent Affliction.

Ms Greene’s piece was created as part of RDT’s continuing work to promote not only quality training for dancers, but also for upcoming choreographers.  Ms Greene is in her first year in the prestigious Dominican University of California/LINES Ballet BFA program. Three RDT student choreographers worked on new pieces in workshops throughout December and January.  Jenny Palmer (16) and Calvin Bittner (17) presented their works along with Ms Greene at the Southeastern Regional Ballet Association Festival Association Adjudication on February 10.  Adjudicator Thom Clower was impressed with the professionalism of the company dancers and the quality of choreography being created by such young choreographers.  He selected Ms. Palmer’s and Ms. Greene’s pieces to be performed on the Emerging Choreographer’s performance.

To continue its mission of fostering dance awareness, RDT will present two outreach programs this spring.  In conjunction with the Girl Scouts-NC Coastal Pines, RDT will host the Make Every Dance Step Count workshop in which scouts learn simple dance steps, try their hand at creating their own dance phrases, and learn what it takes to put a production on the stage. RDT will also be featured at Marbles Kids Museum on Saturday, March 16 from 10am-12pm in their Hurray for Ballet program.  Children will be able to dance along with RDT dancers and see a short performance.

Raleigh Dance Theatre was founded in 1984 by Ann Vorus to provide pre-professional performance training, while promoting and fostering the art of dance in the community. It is an honor member company of Regional Dance America/Southeastern Regional Ballet Association.  RDT’s training program has a proven record of success, with alumni who have gone on to professional careers with Pennsylvania Ballet, Dayton Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Carolina Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Royal Ballet of Flanders, Aspen/Santa Fe Ballet and the New York City Ballet among others.

For more information about the Raleigh Dance Theatre, our Spring Repertoire performances, or our outreach programs, please contact the company offices at (919) 834-1058, or visit its website at www.raleighdance.org.

(Raleigh)–Cameron McCune, a 17 year old high school student who trains at The Raleigh School of Ballet (RSB) has accepted an apprentice contract with American Ballet Theatre.

Mr. McCune has trained at The Raleigh School of Ballet since he was 8 years old. Additionally, he trained two summers at Miami City Ballet and one summer at the School of American Ballet in New York City.  For the last three years he has also studied privately with Gyula Pandi, a former Hungarian National Ballet Dancer and recently retired UNCSA dance faculty member.

Mr. McCune, a member of the school’s affiliate performance training company, Raleigh Dance Theatre (RDT) will perform on their Spring Repertoire program April 27, 2013 where he will be featured in Coppelia Act I and Paquita For ticket information please click on “Purchase Tickets.”

Mr. McCune will also perform the male variation from Paquita at Regional Dance America’s /Southeastern Regional Ballet Association Festival (RDA/SERBA).  Festival adjudicator Thom Clower writes, “I predict that he will soon be on the Dancemagazine ’25 to Watch’ list, and I think that SERBA should be proud of what we as teachers and directors in the region are doing, and take this moment to applaud him, and ourselves!”

In April 2012 Cameron was awarded the men’s silver medal at the Youth America Grand Prix. YAGP is the world’s largest student ballet scholarship competition that awards over $250,000 annually in scholarships to leading dance schools worldwide. The competition is held annually around the world and in New York City, and is open to dance students of all nationalities 9-19 years old. For more information please visit: yagp.org.

The Raleigh School of Ballet recently celebrated 30 years as one of the Triangle’s premiere professional ballet training schools.  RSB/RDT alumnae currently dancing with professional ballet companies include Ashley Hathaway (Raleigh), Sarah Newton (Durham), and Lindsay Purrington (Raleigh) with Carolina Ballet; Laura Bowman (Raleigh) with Pennsylvania Ballet; Dylan Giles (Formerly of Raleigh ) with Festival Ballet Providence and Emily Proctor (Raleigh) company member with Aspen-Santa Fe Ballet.  For more information about RSB please visit:  www.raleighballet.com.

(RALEIGH)— Amy Greene, 18 and 16 year old Jenny Palmer of Raleigh have been selected to present new choreography as part of the Emerging Choreographers Performance at the Regional Dance America/Southeastern Regional Ballet Association Festival (RDA/SERBA) to be held in Jackson, MS, May 1-4, 2013.

Raleigh Dance Theatre (RDT) attends this annual festival where hundreds of young dancers from across the region come together for four days to take master classes and perform. Prior to the festival an adjudicator visits each of the 19 member companies to select work to be presented at the festival.  This year’s adjudicator, Thom Clower, came to Raleigh and where Ms. Palmer presented her piece Canon for Nine, set to Pachalbel’s Canon in D, and Ms. Green presented Inadvertent Affliction, which looks at loneliness within and outside of human relationships.  Both pieces will be performed on the Thursday night Emerging Choreographers Performance with Inadvertent Affliction closing the program.  Raleigh Dance Theatre provides aspiring choreographers a venue to create work and this is the third time a company member has had a piece selected for the Emerging Choreographer’s Performance (and Ms. Palmer’s second time).  In addition, Mr Clower selected Artistic Director, Mary LeGere’s Lyric Suite  for the Gala Performance at SERBA.

Raleigh audiences can see Inadvertent Affliction at RDT’s Spring Repertoire performances on April 27 at 2pm and 7pm at Fletcher Theater at Raleigh’s Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts.  Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door.  Group rates are also available.

Raleigh Dance Theatre was founded in 1984 by Ann Vorus to provide pre-professional performance training, while promoting and fostering the art of dance in the community. It is the only pre-professional company in the Triangle area selected for membership as an honor company in the SERBA. RDT’s training program along with its affiliate school, The Raleigh School of Ballet has a proven record of success, with alumnae who have gone on to professional careers with Carolina Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Washington Ballet II, and New York City Ballet.

For more information about Raleigh Dance Theatre or the Spring Repertoire performances, please contact the company offices at (919) 834-1058, or click on “Purchase Tickets.”

(RALEIGH) – Raleigh Dance Theatre, under the artistic direction of Mary LeGere, will present its popular family-oriented production of Storybook Tales on Saturday, November 3, 2012 at 12:00pm and 4:00pm, and Sunday, November 4, 2012 at 3:00pm.  The program will feature Snow White, Rainbow Fish, based on Marcus Pfister’s beloved children’s book, and Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, based on the book by Kevin Henkes, and made possible in part by Target.  Storybook Tales is an enchanting program approximately an hour and a half in length that will be sure to delight even the youngest audience members.

Storybook Tales performances will be held in Fletcher Opera Theater at Raleigh’s Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts. General admission tickets for all performances are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Group rates are also available.

Fall outreach programs, also sponsored in part by Target, encourage literacy by focusing on early childhood reading, and will include visits to local libraries and triangle elementary schools. RDT will also partner with Girl Scouts-NC Coastal Pines in outreach activities designed to introduce children to different types of dance.

Raleigh Dance Theatre was founded in 1984 by Ann Vorus to provide pre-professional performance training, while promoting and fostering the art of dance in the community. It is an honor member company of Regional Dance America/Southeastern Regional Ballet Association.  RDT’s training program has a proven record of success, with alumnae who have gone on to professional careers with Carolina Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Washington Ballet II, and New York City Ballet among others.

For more information about the Raleigh Dance Theatre, Storybook Tales, or our outreach programs, please contact the company offices at (919) 834-1058, or visit its website at www.raleighdance.org.

(RALEIGH) – Mary LeGere, Artistic Director, announces the Spring 2012 season of Raleigh Dance Theatre (RDT).  Raleigh Dance Theatre will present its Spring Repertoire Performance on Wednesday, May 23,  2012 at 7pm in Jones Auditorium at Meredith College. General admission tickets for all performances are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Group rates are also available.  The performance will feature the classic Sleeping Beauty Act III, excerpts from Jennifer Sommers’ whimsical Alice in Wonderland, and Susan Galdy’s I Never Saw Another Butterfly, based on poems written by children of the Holocaust. The production will also feature performances by RDT alumnae Ashley Hathaway and Sarah Newton (Carolina Ballet); Jessica Higgins (NYC); and Christine Brown (formerly of Carolina Ballet); as well as Cameron McCune, current RDT dancer and recent silver medal winner of the Senior Men’s Division (15-19 year olds) in the prestigious student ballet competition National Youth America Grand Prix 2012.  In conjunction with the performance, RDT celebrates the 30th anniversary of our affiliate school, The Raleigh School of Ballet. Students from The Raleigh School of Ballet will be featured throughout the performance. RDT gratefully acknowledges the gift of office and studio space, and above all, the excellent training RSB has provided Raleigh Dance Theatre dancers over the years.

Raleigh Dance Theatre was founded in 1984 by Ann Vorus to provide pre-professional performance training, while promoting and fostering the art of dance in the community. It is an honor member company of Regional Dance America/Southeastern Regional Ballet Association.  RDT’s training program has a proven record of success, with alumni who have gone on to professional careers with Pennsylvania Ballet, Dayton Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Carolina Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Royal Ballet of Flanders, Aspen/Santa Fe Ballet and the New York City Ballet among others.

For more information about the Raleigh Dance Theatre, our Spring Repertoire performances, or our outreach programs, please contact the company offices at (919) 834-1058, or visit its website at www.raleighdance.org.

(Raleigh)-Cameron McCune, a 16 year old high school student who trains at The Raleigh School of Ballet (RSB) won the Senior Men’s Division (15-19 year olds) at the Youth America Grand Prix 2012 Philadelphia, PA Regional Semi-Finals held Jan 14-16. Mr. McCune competed against 18 other dancers. With this win he is invited to compete in the final round in April in NYC with winners from all over the world.

Mr. McCune has trained at The Raleigh School of Ballet since he was 8 years old. Additionally, he trained two summers at Miami City Ballet.  He was coached for this competition by Gyula Pandi, a former Hungarian National Ballet Dancer and recently retired dance faculty member of UNCSA. Mr Pandi thought Cameron won the competition before he actually performed his variations.  “In the warm-up studio all the dancers, their teachers/coaches were blown away by Cameron’s poise, confidence and technical level. He won the competition right there before stepping on the stage. He stood out like a palm tree in the middle of the desert,” he said.

Mr. McCune is a member of the school’s affiliate performance training company, Raleigh Dance Theatre (RDT) and has been invited by Carolina Ballet Artistic Director, Robert Weiss to perform company roles throughout the 11-12 season.

Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) is the world’s largest student ballet scholarship competition that awards over $250,000 annually in scholarships to leading dance schools worldwide. The competition is held annually around the world and in New York City, and is open to dance students of all nationalities 9-19 years old. For more information please visit: yagp.org.

The Raleigh School of Ballet celebrates 30 years as one of the triangles premiere professional ballet training schools.  RSB alumnae are currently dancing with professional ballet companies include Ashley Hathaway (Raleigh), Sarah Newton (Durham) Lindsay Purrington (Raleigh)  with Carolina Ballet; Laura Bowman (Raleigh), with Pennsylvania Ballet; Jessie Truesdale (Raleigh), company member with National  Ballet of Flandars; Chris Weisler (Raleigh) company member with Dutch National Ballet, and Emily Proctor (Raleigh)  company member with Aspen-Santa Fe Ballet.  Please visit the following websites for more information: RSB raleighballet.com or RDT raleighdance.org.

(RALEIGH) – Raleigh Dance Theatre, under the artistic direction of Mary LeGere, will present its popular family-oriented production of Storybook Tales on Saturday, November 5, 2011 at 1:00pm and 6:00pm, and Sunday, November 6, 2011 at 3:00pm.

Artistic Director Mary LeGere’s, Fancy Nancy: Bonjour, Butterfly adapted from the popular children’s book by Jane O’Connor with illustrations by Robin Preiss Glasser will be featured.  RDT is pleased to have Ms Glasser at all performances to sign books purchased at the event.  Audience members are encouraged to wear their fanciest outfits.  This year, RDT is pleased to partner with The Comfort Project, a local not-for-profit organization that provides books and stuffed animals to children who are hospitalized. The company is encouraging families to purchase an extra Fancy Nancy book for a child in need.  In addition, RDT premieres Megan Marvel’s The Little Mermaid based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. The Fairies from the classic full length Sleeping Beauty and Mary LeGere’s ournonville Divertissements complete the program. Storybook Tales is an enchanting program approximately an hour and a half in length that will be sure to delight even the youngest audience members.

Robin Preiss Glasser has had two successful careers, the first as a ballet dancer and the second as an award-winning children’s book illustrator.  After an 11 year career as a soloist with Pennsylvania Ballet, Robin returned to school at age 30, receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Parsons The New School for Design.  Her first book, Judith Viorst’s Alexander, Who’s Not (Do You Hear Me? I mean It!) Going to Move, was made into a musical produced by The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Robin illustrated two additional books for Ms. Viorst, three books with Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman, including the ALA Notable Book You Can’t Take a Balloon into the Metropolitan Museum, and three acclaimed history books with Lynne Cheney, the vice president’s wife. Robin illustrated beloved radio star Garrison Keillor’s Daddy’s Girl, and the charming A Sock is a Pocket for your Toes by award-winning poet Elizabeth Garton Scanlon, before being paired in 2005 with author Jane O’Connor for the now classic Fancy Nancy Books in the Fancy Nancy series have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List for more than 260 weeks. With over 18 million copies sold around the world, Fancy Nancy has been translated into 17 languages, including Hebrew and Korean.  The brand now includes dolls, accessories, clothing, party paper goods, puzzles, a Nintendo DS game and more.  Besides continued work on the Fancy Nancy series – which to date numbers more than 40 books — Robin illustrated Tea for Ruby by Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York.  Robin lives in Irvine, California, with her husband and two children.

Storybook Tales performances will be held in Fletcher Opera Theater at Raleigh’s Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts. General admission tickets for all performances are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Group rates are also available.

For more information about the Raleigh Dance Theatre, Storybook Tales, or our outreach programs, please contact the company offices at (919) 834-1058, or visit its website at www.raleighdance.org.

(RALEIGH) – Raleigh Dance Theatre, under the artistic direction of Mary LeGere, will present its popular family-oriented production of Storybook Tales on Saturday, November 5, 2011 at 1:00pm and 6:00pm, and Sunday, November 6, 2011 at 3:00pm.  RDT is pleased to present the premier of Megan Marvel’s The Little Mermaid based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale.  Mary LeGere’s, Fancy Nancy: Bonjour, Butterfly adapted from the popular children’s book by Jane O’Connor will also be featured along with the Fairies from the classic full length Sleeping Beauty and Mary LeGere’s Bournonville Divertissements.  Storybook Tales is an enchanting program approximately an hour and a half in length that will be sure to delight even the youngest audience members.

Storybook Tales performances will be held in Fletcher Opera Theater at Raleigh’s Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts. General admission tickets for all performances are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. Group rates are also available.

Raleigh Dance Theatre was founded in 1984 by Ann Vorus to provide pre-professional performance training, while promoting and fostering the art of dance in the community. It is an honor member company of Regional Dance America/Southeastern Regional Ballet Association.  RDT’s training program has a proven record of success, with alumnae who have gone on to professional careers with Carolina Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Washington Ballet II, and New York City Ballet among others.

For more information about the Raleigh Dance Theatre, Storybook Tales, or our outreach programs, please contact the company offices at (919) 834-1058, or visit its website at www.raleighdance.org.