Take class
Studios and youth programs with training from first position up.
- Ninth Street DanceDurham
- Triangle Youth BalletChapel Hill
- Carolina Youth BalletCary
- Commercial Dance Intensive FoundationCary
- North Carolina Arts in ActionRaleigh
Dance in North Carolina
Find a class. Bring your feet.
Ballet barres in Cary, contra halls on the coast, clogging teams in the mountains and shag nights in the foothills. Find where to learn, where to watch and where to join in.
Browse by style
Find your style
Eight ways onto the floor. Each square opens the studios, companies and dance nights behind it.
All dance listings- Ballet Cary Ballet Company · Winston-Salem Festival Ballet
- Modern & contemporary Royal Expressions Contemporary Ballet · Contemporary Ballet Theatre
- Tap & jazz North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble · Footnotes Tap Ensemble
- Clogging, flatfoot & buck Apple Chill Cloggers · Mountain Dance and Folk Festival
- Social, swing & shag Brushy Mountain Shag Club · Triangle Swing Dance Society
- Contra & square Cape Fear Contra Dancers
- Cultural & world dance Itzayan Danza Folklorico · Folkmoot Summerfest · Championships of Bhangra
- Dance schools Ninth Street Dance · Triangle Youth Ballet
Coming up
Dance this month
Drop-in classes, dance nights and performances. Studios and companies post their own dates once they claim a listing.
All dance eventsStudios & stages
Floors to dance on
Studios where you can take class, and the stages North Carolina companies dance on. Pick a room, then pick a night.
Find a studio near youCompanies, teams & clubs
Companies & crews
Ballet and modern companies, tap ensembles and clogging teams, plus the clubs that throw a dance most weekends.
Find a company or clubTowns strong in dance
Towns that dance
Ten places to find your mark, from mountain festival stages to coastal contra halls. Each town page lists studios, companies and dance nights.
All towns- AshevilleThe Mountain Dance and Folk Festival since 1928, Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance and Diana Wortham Theatre
- WaynesvilleFolkmoot Summerfest since 1984
- WilkesboroBrushy Mountain Shag Club
- Winston-SalemWinston-Salem Festival Ballet and the Stevens Center
- GreensboroJoyemovement, Royal Expressions Contemporary Ballet and the North Carolina Dance Education Organization
- DurhamNinth Street Dance since 1993, Gaspard&Dancers and the Triangle Swing Dance Society
- Chapel Hill & CarrboroApple Chill Cloggers, North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble and Triangle Youth Ballet
- RaleighRaleigh Dance Theatre, Footnotes Tap Ensemble and Capital City Steppers
- CharlotteCharlotte Ballet, Caroline Calouche & Co and the Charlotte Area Shaggers Hall of Fame
- WilmingtonThe Wilmington Ballet Company, Cape Fear Contra Dancers and Itzayan Danza Folklorico
For dancers & teachers
Take class, join in
Youth and adult training, teams and troupes that welcome new members, and the networks dance teachers and choreographers use.
Join a team
Clogging teams, tap ensembles, step teams and folk troupes.
- Apple Chill CloggersCarrboro
- Footnotes Tap EnsembleRaleigh
- Capital City SteppersRaleigh
- Grier Heights Community SteppersCharlotte
- Itzayan Danza FolkloricoWilmington
Teach & connect
Networks for dance teachers, choreographers and movement artists.
- North Carolina Dance Education OrganizationGreensboro
- Dance Artist Alliance CLTCharlotte
- Asheville Movement CommunityAsheville
- Dance CooperativeWilmington
- Triangle Movement CollectiveRaleigh
North Carolina heritage
Flatfoot, buck & clogging
In the North Carolina mountains, flatfooting and buck dancing are solo step dances, danced close to the floor to fiddle and banjo. Clogging teams dance together in sets, often with taps on their shoes. Bascom Lamar Lunsford started the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival in Asheville in 1928, and it is still held there each summer.
| Count | Year | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1928 | Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, Asheville |
| 6 | 1984 | Folkmoot Summerfest, Waynesville |
| 7 | 2003 | Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival of Music & Dance, Pittsboro |
| 8 | — | Apple Chill Cloggers, Carrboro |
Founding years as listed on each place’s page in this directory. Lunsford’s founding of the festival is widely documented.
For studios, companies, teams and clubs
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