Category: Interview

photo: Dick Costa

GET TO KNOW: Camerin Watson

Posted on by Audrey Baran

I feel weird that I am friends with nearly every choreographer or company I have profiled so far on this blog. But what can I say? The dance community of Charlotte is small and my friend pool is large. So I had a lovely and leisurely time talking with Camerin Watson, who I have known for many years as a colleague, co-producer, fellow dance maker, and friend. We met for chai Sunday afternoon and talked about dance and dreams (past and future). Watson graduated with a BFA from UNC Greensboro in 2007, after which she briefly lived in Washington DC, working at the dance hub Dance Place. Out of love and logistics, she followed her boyfriend (now husband), Sean, to Charlotte in[…]

GET TO KNOW: Wanda Ebright

Posted on by Audrey Baran

The Unapologetic Classicist It was not easy to nail down Wanda Ebright for an interview. She’s a busy woman – a tenured Associate Professor of Dance and the coordinator for the Department of Visual & Performing Arts at Johnson C. Smith University, a PhD candidate in Dance at Texas Women’s University, an avid patron of dance performances and classes in Charlotte, and a mother of two daughters. After a few weeks of email tag, we finally met for coffee on a warm winter day and talked about dance: past, present, and future. Wanda’s primary medium is ballet, as a dancer, choreographer, and educator, but she’s a self-proclaimed non-traditional ballerina. Tall, athletic, and African American, she fell in love with ballet but also found[…]

GET TO KNOW: Ben Kubie

Posted on by Audrey Baran

I sat down over chai and coffee with Ben Kubie, former principal dancer with North Carolina Dance Theatre (now Charlotte Ballet). The relaxed atmosphere of Nova’s Bakery perfectly matched Ben’s demeanor – warm, inviting, and unassuming – qualities you may not expect from a retired professional ballet dancer. But as I learned from my colleague over our chat, “retired” sometimes means anything but “done”. Ben first danced with NCDT from 1992-1993, the days of Artistic Director Salvatore Aiello. I mentioned that I have vivid memories of seeing the company during that time, particularly Sal’s “Le Sacre du Printemps” (Right of Spring), when Kati Hanlon Mayo knocked my socks (and all her clothes) off in the lead role. Apparently Ben danced in[…]