The Charlotte Youth Ballet is the only dance company in the Carolinas that highlights professional guest artists and offers our most accomplished youth dancers the rare opportunity to actually partner with professionals. This creates a tremendous learning environment for the youth while providing them the opportunity to be an integral part of high quality productions. CYB’s commitment to inclusion serves our mission and the community simultaneously by giving the best ballet dancers from across the region equal opportunities to participate in a professional-level productions. In recognition of this unique opportunity, CYB auditions are filled with dancers from across the Carolinas: the cast for last year’s Nutcracker performance included dancers from 12 area schools of dance. Through the regional, cultural, economic, and ethnic diversity of our dancers and audience and our ability to offer low cost tickets prices, CYB exposes its dancers, families and audiences to the ballet each season, many for the first time, thereby providing cultural exposure to individuals, primarily children, who might not otherwise have that opportunity.
From casting to curtain calls, each show takes approximately 3 months to produce. Dancers are only asked to rehearse on weekends, thus enabling them to maintain traditional school involvements in band, debate, sports and a myriad of other activities. Many CYB dancers are honors students, Girl Scouts, and active Youth Fellowship members. But when in rehearsal, they are 100% focused on the ballet. Depending upon their level within the CYB, all performers are also required to maintain their technical training, taking a specified number of dance classes per week at their chosen school of dance.
