The beginning of each school year brings new classes, instructors and faces. Among the new faces welcomed onto campus this fall is Autumn Mist Belk, the new assistant dance program director.
Belk was born in Charlotte and grew up in Durham where she found her passion as a dancer. In her middle and high school years, Belk competed as an all-star cheerleader, a dancer and a gymnast. She took two years of jazz in middle school, which she enthusiastically enjoyed.
“I enjoyed jazz because the movement was faster and I liked the personality you could portray with it. Back then ballet seemed too stiff and strict for me,” she said, adding that she quit dancing at her studio when she was forced into taking ballet.
“If I had only known at the time how much I would later need that ballet training I would have stuck with it,” she said.
It wouldn’t be long, however, before she would ignite her passion once again.
Belk, on a full scholarship, attended the University of Alabama (UA), where she started as a graphic design major.
“Alabama was also a great place to be considering I am a huge football fan,” she said.
At UA, Belk signed up for both a dance improvisation class and a modern dance class in her first semester, through which she immediately explored her passions for dance and choreographing and added a dance minor to her program, eventually turning it into a second major.
After UA, Belk spent a couple of years teaching in dance studios, as well as dancing with a modern and jazz dance company outside of Philadelphia. She then returned to school at the University of Maryland for graduate school.
Although she has not had previous experience as a dance program director, she has previously worked in arts administration, an experience that carries over to her duties at NCSU. She has also had a lot of experience choreographing with college level dancers and teaching courses for them.
“This position at N.C. State really combines almost all of the things I enjoy doing. Not only do I get to work with students choreographing work for concerts and teaching their company technique class, I get to work on the administrative side of the program doing graphic design and video work and lots of the other little things that go into University life,” she said.
As a dance program director, Belk has the opportunity to choreograph works for the NCSU Dance Company.
She will also be performing some of the works of Robin Harris, dance program director, who choreographs and reconstructs work for the company.
Occasionally, Belk will be stepping in and performing with the company.
On the administrative side of the dance program, which includes the NCSU Dance Company, as well as DanceVisions, Belk will maintain the budget and plan for their future accomplishments, in conjunction with Harris.
She will be doing graphic design work for marketing materials, such as postcards, posters and brochures.
Belk will also be doing video work for the program, including videotaping concerts, archiving all old tapes and editing films.
The dance program contains two student dance companies: the NCSU Dance Company and DanceVisions.
The NCSU Dance Company is a modern dance company and usually hovers at about 12 members. Currently, it holds eight members with auditions Tuesday.
The company has the opportunity to go to the American College Dance Festival, an intense four days during which groups from different colleges come to show work and take classes.
DanceVisions is a student-run organization and includes a student board to shape the group. It focuses on the exploration of cultural and technical dance styles, such as African dance, hip hop and jazz.
DanceVisions will be holding auditions in Sept.
Both student dance companies will be performing concerts in the spring.
Belk says that she has definitely had a very positive experience as the assistant dance program director thus far, and she is looking forward to holding auditions.
“It seems like a very friendly environment,” she said.
“I am excited to keep the dance program growing, which is a big goal of mine now that I’m here.”