1970
Robert Lindgren, Dean of Dance at Winston-Salem’s North Carolina School of the Arts, founds North Carolina Dance Theatre.

1981
Gian Carlo Menotti invites the company to perform at the Spoleto Festival U.S.A. & Spoletto, Italy. Both programs earn rave reviews.

1982
National Endowment for the Arts names NC Dance Theatre the nation’s highest rated touring company.

1984
NC Dance Theatre debuts its first fully self-produced full-length ballet, Robert Vesak’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

1985
Salvatore Aiello becomes
Artistic Director.

1990
Aiello moves the company to Charlotte realizing his dream of support for a new Nutcracker and a school. Jerri Kumery joins as répétiteur.

1993
NC Dance Theatre begins receiving ongoing support from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Arts & Science Council and opens official school.             Aiello creates Rite of Spring.

1995
The company returns to Spoleto Festival U.S.A. then suffers tragic loss of Artistic Director Salvatore Aiello.

1996
Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride arrive as artistic director and co-associate artistic director.

1999
Arts & Science Council awards the company the coveted “Advancement of Excellence Grant” based on quality of professional programming, artistic vision and ability to make the strongest artistic advancement.

2000
Bonnefoux creates a second company of professional dancers –

NC Dance Theatre 2.

2004
Bonnefoux and company return to Joyce Theater where his Shindig earns The New York Times praise “lickety-split technique.”

2006
Dwight Rhoden, co-director and founder of Complexions Dance Company, becomes resident choreographer of NC Dance Theatre.

2007
NC Dance Theatre was chosen to participate in the North Carolina Arts Council’s cARTwheels program - an art touring program for elementary school children in rural counties.

2008
Bonnefoux and McBride receive lifetime achievement awards from The Arts & Science Council of Charlotte, N.C. This inaugural ASC Honors program recognized creative individuals in the areas of science, literature, history, design, visual or the performing arts.

2009
On April 22, 2009, NC Dance Theatre broke ground on its new 34,000 square foot facility. Hugh McColl Jr. announced the new facility, located at 701 North Tryon Street, would be named the Patricia McBride and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux Center for Dance.

2010
The company was as one of only nine selected to perform at the Kennedy Center’s Ballet Across America. NC Dance Theatre received standing ovations from the audiences and rave reviews from critics for Bonnefoux’s Shindig.