I was a member of the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble (NCYTE) for eight years. NCYTE is a professional youth tap ensemble that performs across the United States and the world. NCYTE also performs shows in schools across the south that teaches the history and importance of tap dance. The company’s repertoire includes 40 dances in different styles of tap dance, such as rhythm tap, jazz tap, Irish step, South African gumboot, body percussion, and buck dancing. With NCYTE I performed in over 100 schools, at tap festivals such as the Chicago Human Rhythm Project and the Vancouver Tap Festival, and in notable theaters such as Symphony Space (NYC) and the Studebaker Theater (Chicago).
High school seniors in the company work together to produce the end of season show at the historic Carolina Theater in Durham. We are in charge of creating the show order, lighting, costuming, organizing guest stars, creating the poster/program design, and choreographing our own original piece. The show is professional and is attended by hundreds of community members each year.
My eight years in NCYTE helped me develop work ethic, responsibility, time management, team work, and leadership. Dancers teach and learn the repertoire from each other. I had to manage my time so I could teach dances, learn dances, attend rehearsals, and perform and travel to shows while attending my other dance classes and school. I learned how to become a leader within the company and position myself as a key member. Performances require an immense amount of teamwork. Each dancer is responsible for knowing the piece and for helping other dancers who are struggling. In a performance each dancer plays a key role in the production.