The Dean of Dance
Endalyn Taylor M.F.A. ’12 is appointed Dean of the School of Dance at UNC School of the Arts
By Karen Adams M.A. ’93, M.A. ’00, M.F.A. ’10
The new dean of the School of Dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), Endalyn Taylor M.F.A. ’12, aims to help young dancers strive to be their absolute best, as artists and as contributors to society.
“For our students, I hope there is a sense of balance in that they not only become incredible technicians as dancers but also become good citizens of the world,” she said.
Taylor, a conservatory-trained dancer as well as a choreographer and educator, has performed on Broadway and stages worldwide, including as an original cast member of the Tony Award-winning Broadway productions of The Lion King, Aida, and Carousel, roles that included acting and singing.
“There’s a wellspring of beauty and passion and learning and understanding in diversifying, and if we can mirror that in what we do as artists, that becomes contagious to the world.”
She was director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) School when she came to Hollins in 2011 to earn her M.F.A. Influenced by DTH School founder and mentor Arthur Mitchell, who had encouraged dancers to expand their minds, Taylor had heard friends and colleagues speak highly of the Hollins program.
“They noted how it took into account your life experience,” she said. “In dance, there is so much learning in the doing.”
The Hollins dance faculty also drew her. She welcomed the opportunity to work with program director Jeffery Bullock, Tommy DeFrantz, Irene Dowd, and others. “The faculty had such a wealth of experience and perspectives different from my own,” she said. “They inspired me to dig deeper and look at the multilayers of dance and what it had to offer to me as an artist, as a teacher, and as a citizen of the world.”
Studying with and learning from her fellow students, some of whom she had danced with before, also shaped her Hollins education. “The community experience was so special, aligned with the academics and learning and challenging the mind.”
“With dancers, the kinesthetic intelligence is obvious; we may hone in on our physical ability,” she said. “But when you strengthen the element of who we are as thinkers, as critical thinkers, it builds a sense of confidence in your ability to contribute to society, as leaders and as changemakers.”
Taylor’s commitment to diversity and accessibility has been a hallmark of her career. “As a woman of color, ballet didn’t always show me a clear path for myself,” she said, an experience that led her to help dispel the “myth of elitism” in the field. She has long been a voice and a role model for Black ballerinas.
Taylor grew up on the South Side of Chicago, the daughter of evangelical Baptist ministers James and Lillie Taylor, and loved dancing from an early age. “Music and creativity is in my lineage,” she said, noting that her maternal grandfather was a pianist, singer, and entertainer. She often danced with her family and friends at house parties and block parties. “Dancing was in my culture and in my community. It was innate; it was natural.”
One day, while seven-year-old Taylor and her mother were visiting a family friend, she was so moved by the music she heard on the TV that she climbed up on a table to dance. Her mother’s friend commented on Taylor’s natural gift and recommended dance training. Soon Taylor was enrolled at the Mayfair Academy of Fine Arts, and later at the Ruth Page School of Dance, a top ballet training center.
She joined the DTH School in 1984 and became a principal dancer in 1993. During her time there, she performed leading roles for Coretta Scott King, Colin Powell, President Bill Clinton, the late Princess Diana, the late Nelson Mandela, and many others. As a dancer, she became known for her strength and ability to leap high, a fitting image for her life of activism as well.
As DTH School director from 2005 to 2013, Taylor taught, choreographed, and staged a variety of works, and in 2010 was invited to bring her students to the White House by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama as part of their new arts initiative.
Prior to joining the UNCSA faculty in August, Taylor spent seven years teaching ballet and musical theatre as an associate professor of dance at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Over her illustrious career she has received a number of awards, including an Initiative for Multi-Racial Democracy Award and an Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Illinois, and was profiled in the Big Ten Network’s documentary short Illinois Artist: Endalyn Taylor, which earned a Mid-America Emmy in 2019.
With her wide experience, Taylor was an ideal choice for UNCSA, which trains students in both classical ballet and contemporary dance. The school’s emphasis on innovation, inclusion, diversity, collaboration, and unity also fits with Taylor’s own life vision and activism.
As she told Dance Teacher magazine earlier this year: “There’s a wellspring of beauty and passion and learning and understanding in diversifying, and if we can mirror that in what we do as artists, that becomes contagious to the world.”
The mother of two sons — Eddie, a firefighter and professional dancer, and Eivory, a student at Southern Illinois University — Taylor is committed to helping people of all backgrounds shape the future.
There is an important difference between being shaped by the past and being stuck in the past, Taylor noted. “Being stuck prevents progression and innovation, but we can build on our past,” Taylor said. “For students and the next generation, all these layers of history are essential for moving forward.
UNCSA’s prestigious dance program has been “a blessing to come into,” Taylor said. “My vision is to maintain and move forward the technical excellence, rigor, and training of our dancers,” while continuing to celebrate diversity, she said.
She also hopes that young dancers will think beyond the edges of their art. “We need peacemakers, we need civic engagers, we need people who will challenge and question. I seek to help them gain a sense of their voice as artists and contributors to the world,” Taylor said. “Never underestimate what you can access through the arts.”