by KRISTIN LARMORE
Lifestyles Reporter

The couples take the stage, one after another, spinning and tilting their shoulders in sync to the beat of the symphony.

It’s not on television like ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.”

It’s live.

The professional dancers of the North Carolina Dance Theatre will perform American Masterpieces Thursday 8 p.m. in Farthing Auditorium.

Dancers perform with the North Carolina Dance Festival November 2008. The ensemble will perform Thursday. File Photo.

Companies like this serve as an inspiration for the growing popularity of television dancing competitions.

“Dancing is an expression,” Artistic Director Jean Pierre Bonnefoux said. “You know how people say body language, sometimes, is stronger than words, people can say, that’s how it is.”

Founded in 1970, the nationally recognized dance theatre holds the mission “to provide artistically excellent programming to diverse audiences in its home city of Charlotte, the Southeast region and to the varied communities it serves while on tour across the nation,” according to its Web site.

The North Carolina Dance Theatre School of Dance, with over 600 current students, opened in 1993 as part of the company.

Bonnefoux said the 400 to 450 students at the Charlotte location undergo one-and-a-half hours of classical ballet class each morning, followed by six hours of rehearsal.

As a choreographer and teacher, he looks not only for those with extreme talent, but for those who can be part of a team, respect others and enjoy colleague interaction.

“So, I’m asking a lot from them. They give me a lot also,” Bonnefoux said.

Dancers must also work out on their own time to maintain cardio, for example, because practice involves constant starting and stopping and it’s difficult to perform for long periods like they would in a performance, Dance Theatre professional Traci J. Gilchrest said.

The men must cross train and lift weights to increase stamina for lifting the female dancers, and the women have to reach typically unused muscles and maintain flexibility.

Gilchrest uses daily yoga practice, her “savior,” as she said, to “get set up for the bends and twists you have to use.”

Gilchrest admitted, however, staying in shape is her job, and she can’t imagine trying to sit at a desk for eight hours straight and then going to the gym.

Bonnefoux said the company performs two types of dancing through varied choreography: ballet and modern dance, both of which require the basic ballet technique.

Modern dance branched of 1700s ballet, using a classical, interesting technique with often barefoot dancers.

Students have a unique opportunity to see the performance, as Bonnefoux said the theatre doesn’t visit college towns often.

Gilchrest said it’s exciting because audience members are more likely to relate to the pieces with theater or dance majors present.

“I really like more intimate theaters where you feel more of a connection with audience,” Gilchrest said.

That way, a dancer can feed off the audience’s energy easier.

Bonnefoux and Gilchrest said the benefit for any student, regardless of interests, is gaining insight into something they may not be familiar with.

Bonnefoux notices many people have no idea what ballet is about.

“When we say ‘ballet,’ people don’t get very excited,” he said. “People need to realize there are so many ways to dance.”

Though American Masterpieces doesn’t demonstrate a storyline per se, one part honors timeless, relatable Frank Sinatra tunes, one features ballroom dancing in high heels and another is a jazzy ensemble with short skirts.

“The music, number one, is going to get you in,” Gilchrest said. “It would be very hard to be bored.”

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