THE SKINNY ON DANCE
STEVEN BROWN

NCDT mainstay is leaving to focus on her leading role

The dancers will reach their final pose. The West Charlotte High School drum line will finish booming through the Belk Theater. But N.C. Dance Theatre will have one more item on its agenda Saturday night. It will let the audience say goodbye to Kati Hanlon Mayo.

After 16 seasons as one of NCDT's most prominent dancers -- its go-to woman for dynamism and glitter -- Mayo is bowing out. The reason is summed up in the last sentence of Mayo's program-book bio: "Her favorite role to date is that of mother to Lola, born in October 2004."

When NCDT performed in New York City the spring before that, Mayo danced pregnant. After a brief break for the blessed event, she returned to the stage, as athletic as ever. But she finally decided that she didn't want dancing and motherhood to compete for her time.

"It goes by so quickly when they're young," Mayo said last week. "As a new mom, I just wanted to experience that."

Mayo, 38, said she's glad that she returned to NCDT after her daughter arrived. She thinks her dancing gained "a freedom that I didn't have before."

"As a dancer, you're always worried about being perfect -- the technique," Mayo said. "I think I was able to let a lot of that go after I had Lola. My world had gotten so much bigger. I guess I didn't take myself as seriously."

Mayo still takes dancing seriously. At night, when her husband can watch Lola, she teaches in NCDT's school.

"Something about being in there with the students and their eagerness and their excitement about dance is so refreshing," Mayo said. "It brings me to a nice place." The Skinny on Dance

STEVEN BROWN