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Education Mission Statement
North Carolina Dance Theatre’s Education program will engage students, teachers and the community-at-large in a range of artistic activities that allow them to learn about dance as an art form.
Outreach Mission Statement
North Carolina Dance Theatre will create innovative programs, dynamic performances and collaborative partnerships to make dance accessible to all communities.
Department Staff
Teaching Artists
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April Berry
director of education and outreach
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 April Berry assumed the position of director of education and outreach for North Carolina Dance Theatre in August 2006. Berry also serves as an instructor at the North Carolina Dance Theatre School of Dance.
For the past five years Berry has served as the director of education and community programs for BalletMet in Columbus, OH, implementing numerous dance education and outreach programs. She founded and directed YouthMet!, a multicultural teen dance ensemble and the official student performance ensemble for BalletMet’s school and directed the BalletMet Community Outreach Scholarship Program.
Berry was previously an artist-in-residence at Denison University in Ohio and a guest instructor at numerous universities such as UNC Charlotte, The Ohio State University, Indiana State University at Bloomington and the University of Kentucky.
She has served as a board member for the Greater Columbus Arts Council, OhioDance and the Edler G. Hawkins Foundation in New York and as a dance panelist for the Ohio Arts Council, Cuyahoga Arts and Economic Development, Arts and Science Council and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Berry’s professional training began at the National Academy of Ballet and Theatre Arts in New York and she was a scholarship student at the Dance Theatre of Harlem and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in New York. She received Master Teacher certification by Katherine Dunham to teach Dunham Technique and was recognized by the International Association for Blacks in Dance for her Outstanding Achievements in the Field of Dance.
Berry is a former principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater or eleven years and performed all around the world with the company. She danced on two Kennedy Center television specials, was a featured dancer on three Ailey Company videos and was featured on two Ailey Company season posters.
Berry feels blessed to have worked with so many world renowned artists/choreographers including Alvin Ailey, Judith Jamison, Hans Van Manen, Donald McKayle, John Butler, Katherine Dunham, Bill T. Jones and danced in works by legendary modern choreographer, Lester Horton. Berry originated roles in Talley Beatty’s jazz ballet, The Stack-Up and in Alvin Ailey’s last choreographic work, Opus McShann.
Pamela Sofras
curriculum consultant
 Pamela Sofras, Professor of Dance at UNC Charlotte, is recognized on the national level as an expert in dance education. She holds a BFA from the Julliard School and a M.Ed. from Lehigh University. As one of the developers of the NC dance licensure program, she has been called upon by several states to assist in establishing their frameworks and standards in dance for the public schools. In 1978 - 1990 she maintained an affiliation with the American Dance Festival that included serving as assistant, then associate dean, and founding director of its Young Dancer’s School. In 1995, with colleagues around the country, she assisted editing the National Standards in Dance Education currently in use throughout the USA.
Recently, she has presented pedagogical papers at the Congress on Research in Dance, Dance History Scholars, Focus on Dance Education, National Dance Education Organization, and other notable professional organizations. Published curriculum materials have been created for New Jersey (with the Alvin Ailey Company) South Carolina (with the Southeast Center for Dance in Education), Tennessee (with the Southeast Center for Education in the Arts) and North Carolina (with North Carolina Dance Theatre). The American Dance Legacy Institute engaged her to create the first educational materials for the innovative Repertory Etude Project.
Sofras has presented her work in education conferences in South Africa, Portugal and Egypt. Successful grant awards have included 4 UNC Charlotte CID grants used specifically to develop and broaden curriculum offerings at UNC Charlotte with professional dance works. Most recently, she has formed an innovative partnership with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools and North Carolina Dance Theatre.
This partnership provides an opportunity to implement the lesson materials though professional development workshops in Charlotte Mecklenburg, to assess and evaluate the work and to create CD Rom materials for teachers. Awards have included the North Carolina Dance Alliance Award for Outstanding Service in Dance Education (1994); the College and University Dance Educator of the Year, 1998 – 1999, Southern District American Alliance for Health; Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, and the Annual Faculty Award for Sustained Service to Public Schools 2001-2002 from UNC Charlotte.
Tracie Chan
education and outreach coordinator
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 Tracie Chan, originally from Kinston, NC, earned a BA from Peace College and an MFA in Dance Performance from UNC Greensboro. She studied dance at the Joffrey School in New York City and at the Charleston Ballet Theatre in South Carolina. Chan has performed with such companies as The Van Dyke Dance Group, 2Btribe and the High Point Ballet.
Chan has been President for the North Carolina Dance Project since 2004. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Jan Van Dyke, she developed The Dance Project at City Arts, a non-profit, community dance school. Chan has taught at UNC Greensboro, City Arts Dance and High Point Ballet and most recently served as the dance teacher at Weaver Academy for the Performing and Visual Arts in Greensboro, NC.
In addition to her role as education and outreach coordinator, Chan also serves as a teaching artist.
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