Graceful Expressions Dance Company is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides a unique opportunity for young dancers — holistic training, performance and leadership experience that prepares dancers for college or career. Community service through dance is a key part of who we are as an organization and creates leaders who thrive in their next steps when they graduate.

In the spring of 2023, Graceful Expressions became home to Carolina Dance Theater, Cary’s only professional dance company. Carolina Dance Theater was launched with the support of our community of donors and grants from the Town of Cary and the United Arts Council of Wake County. Our world premiere at the Cary Arts Center featured works by director Willie Hinton and choreographer Kathryn Lanier and a guest performance by Fred Davis, current director of Tennessee Dance Theater and former dancer with the Dance Theater of Harlem.

Our dancers perform original works, often in collaboration with other artists like the Cary Town Band, onstage and at community events. But beyond that, our dancers have a chance to learn and grow behind-the-scenes through choreography, costuming, prop design, stage managing, and learning how to set and rehearse pieces. Then our dancers take what they’ve learned and turn it around to serve the community through their talents. Our dancers teach and provide outreach programs at The Carying Place and the Raleigh Rescue Mission, and each year we host an inclusive Dance Party for families who have children with special needs. Every spring our dance companies hold a benefit performance and donate proceeds to a dance or education-related cause that the dancers believe in. They have built swing sets for kids in Kenya, dance floors for an inner-city studio in Akron, Ohio and funded a trip for two of their directors to work with kids in a dance program in one of the most impoverished areas of Nairobi, Kenya. These young dancers are changing the world through their commitment to their art!

This amazing work is funded through audience support, generous donations and the support of the Town of Cary.
If you would like to become a donor, checks can be made to Graceful Expressions Dance Company and mailed to 2438 SW Cary Pkwy, Cary, NC 27513. Consider participating at one of the following levels:

• • $30 purchases props
  • $60 purchases a costume
  • $75 purchases new supplies for our outreach classes
  • $100 provides a master class for the dancers
  • $200 purchases an hour of theater rental
  • $500 purchases a backdrop