Today’s guest, Kati Hanlon Mayo, Academy Associate Director for Charlotte Ballet’s Upper School, trained at The Boston School of Ballet under the direction of E. Virginia Williams & Violette Verdy. At the age of 15, she became a member of Boston Ballet 2 before joining North Carolina Dance Theatre (now Charlotte Ballet) as a principal dancer. She also performed with Chautauqua Ballet Company under the direction of Jean Pierre Bonnefoux.
Her students have gone on to professional careers with companies throughout the world, including: New York City Ballet, Nederland Dans Theater, San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet and Houston Ballet. Kati has been a guest teacher for The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The Chautauqua Institution, Regional Dance America and she is a repetiteur for the Salvatore Aiello Trust. She is a certified instructor of Dance for Parkinson’s Disease through The Mark Morris Dance Group and she also completed her instructor certification with Progressing Ballet Technique.
In our conversation, Kati shares about the value of mentors, allowing yourself to grow, and staying focused on your training despite the distractions of competing for roles, navigating the unknowns, and all the things that can pull your focus from your technique.
Thanks for listening to our conversation, thanks for sharing this episode with a friend and for leaving a review.
Takeaways from our conversation:
-mentors help you understand what you don’t know
-a life in dance starts at a young age; requiring both physical and emotional strength and maturity
-stay connected to the joyful adventure of dance
Learn more about Kati and Charlotte Ballet - including their summer program at Charlotteballet.org.
You can learn more about dance education and career planning for dancers at theballerinatist.com
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