Atlantic Dance Theatre (ADT), founded in 1985, is a well-established nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to bringing the joy of dance to Eastern North Carolina through collaborative educational opportunities and public performances. ADT wants to enrich the lives of all the students in our communities through exposure to professional dance performances. Our long history includes partnering with JT Barber Elementary School in the 1990’s to provide a three-year residency. This residency won the Governor’s Award for Programs of Excellence in Education. Since 2018, ADT has provided multiple in-school performances, while expanding its reach beyond Craven County to provide enriching performing arts for students in Jones and Pamlico Counties. This school year we are expanding to Duplin and Greene county.
ADT maintains a culture of adaptability and responsiveness to ensure we can bring fullness to the lives of youth through dance. During the Covid-19 Pandemic, ADT was able to pivot its strategy for school enrichment programs. During the 2020-2021 school year, ADT provided a West African Dance Workshop: Live from Mali via Zoom to 6 schools in Craven County and 4 schools in Jones County. Catherine Alligood, principal at A.H. Bangert, described her appreciation for ADT’s Dance to Build Young Lives: “I can’t thank you enough for what this program meant to Bangert Elementary School. I went room to room during the program, and I saw students who were 100% engaged and taking part in the dancing. Our students were smiling and moving (even if it was in place) during a year when they have had very little movement. I saw joy, and we need more joy.”
ADT remains focused on its mission of providing dance to build young lives while fulfilling its commitment to enriching culture and supporting the area’s vibrant arts community. We’ve partnered with Craven Community Lifetime Learn Center (CCLLC) to bring multiple professional artist to the area to perform at Orringer Theater. In February of 2023, Carolina Ballet not only had two public performances but also held workshops for young dancers prior to the Saturday matinee performance. The following fall, we partnered to bring “Flamenco as an artform” by Flamenco Vivo, America’s Premier Flamenco company based in New York City, and Durham, NC. Just this past November, after performing for over 1200 students in Duplin and Craven counties, the Highland Echoes performed a sold out show at Orringer Theater.
Our partnership with The Filling Station has brought the “Filling Young Hearts with the Arts Summer Camp” program to Jones County for the past 4 years, with the support of the Bate Foundation. The local youth are able to experience a week full of impactful activities including painting, live music from the NC Symphony’s Music Discovery Program and engaging cultural and educational dance experiences from Solo and drummers from Kono Gnaga.
ADT continues to bring live dance performances by a variety of artists to elementary and middle school students in the tri-county area. In 2022, with help from the Bate Foundation, ADT brought Carolina Ballet to 10 area schools where dancers introduced students to ballet and presented a short performance of Puss-in-Boots from the ballet, Sleeping Beauty. In 2023, the Anonymous Trust helped ADT bring Carolina Ballet to all 4 Pamlico County Schools. Students of all ages were enthralled by the dancers, many of whom were male, performing live on the stage. For many, this was their first experience of a live dance performance. ADT partnered with Arts to End Genocide (ATEG) to bring a powerful performance to a Craven County middle school. ADT expanded their repertoire of dancers even more during the 2023-2024 school year and brought dance to almost 1700 students. Two Craven County schools were able to experience Flamenco Vivo’s vibrant show. Onslow Pow Wow dancers highlighted the performance roster during the 2023-2024 academic year. Their performances were a win-win for the schools, the dancers and ADT. Some of the performances were scheduled to coincide with Indigenous Peoples’ Day and facilitated celebrations of Native American Month in October at many of the schools. For many of the children, this was their first exposure to Native American people and their music and dance. ADT not only brings dance to the stage, in partnership with area schools, it creates opportunities for children to connect with this form of artistic expression and experience dance and movement in a classroom setting as they never have before.
Thanks to the NC Arts Council cARTwheels grant, ADT brought Black Box Dance Theatre, North Carolina’s premier modern dance company, to Jones County for a weeklong residency. Not only did this experience expose the elementary students to a new form of dance but was also a STEM program that tied into the current NC curriculum. The fifth graders from Pollocksville Elementary worked every afternoon for an hour to learn the physics of force through movement. Together they learned a dance about force and how to be their own force in life. ADT was proud to be able to provide the transportation for all Kindergarten through 5th grade students in Jones County to Trenton Elementary for a public performance of the dance. One of the 5th grade performers said he was excited to perform and just make people happy. In reference to learning through a different medium, another performer said you’ll remember it better if you do the motion.
The arts, in this case dance, helps children’s brains develop and make connections. It’s amazing to see the students become engaged and enthralled as they learn about different cultures and witness different forms of dance. Just this school year, our programs have included Native American jingle dancers and hoop dancers, Scottish dancers showcasing traditional dancers while relating it to local history, modern dancers performing a dias de los muertos dance to classical composer Saint Saen.
As a specific example, the Black Box Dance Theatre program was particularly engaging for one of the young participants—an autistic boy from a Jones County school. He is in the fifth grade and during the first days of the workshops with Black Box Dance Theatre, he was all over the place but was curious. He asked a lot of questions and wanted to know how to do things. He wanted them to repeat things so he could get it and was trying to make sure that all of the kids were together – that they knew what they were doing. According to the teacher, all of this transferred into the classroom for him. His teacher said as the week went on, he settled down more. He was able to focus more. He would be humming and doing his work. When asked what he was humming, he said he was memorizing the songs so he could practice. This experience not just impacted that week but has brought to life a new coping skill. This student, his teacher, and future teachers can take this information and harness it to improve his life.
ADT Artistic Director, Joan Taylor, says “When children move and dance and when you can connect that to their learning in school, it makes learning fun, multi-sensory and unforgettable. And isn’t that what we want? Children who love to learn, who are curious and enthusiastic and who retain what they have learned? The children who worked with Black Box Theatre will never forget their lessons on motion and force. Physics made super fun through DANCE!”
Art enriches our lives, offering depth, meaning, and connection. It invites us to explore the world through different perspectives, fostering emotional expression and reflection. Dance is an incredible way to engage both the body and mind. It encourages creativity by activating the brain’s neural pathways, helping to improve coordination, focus, and problem-solving abilities. By combining both art and dance, we nurture a holistic approach to creativity and personal growth, stimulating both emotional and cognitive faculties.
This is the deep value that dance brings to the lives of young people in our community, and the goals of the ADT program in New Bern and beyond.