North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble

Big year. Bigger goals.

​The North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble's mission is to preserve and promote percussive dance forms.

Over the last 40 years, the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble (NCYTE) has fulfilled this mission, opening doors for young dancers, preserving tradition, contextualizing history, conserving choreography, and maintaining the integrity of percussive dance forms, like rhythm tap.

To sustain NCYTE’s vision over the next 40 years, we need your help.

We’ve established an audacious fundraising goal. NCYTE 40/40 is an effort to raise at least $40,000 over the next year - our 40th Anniversary. Donations from generous contributors like you support the Company’s “everyday” needs and help fund significant capital investments, including new performance-quality floors and audio equipment, like floor mics.

But we can’t accomplish any of this without YOU. Please help us reach our goal by donating today and sharing this campaign with your friends and family. We are grateful for your support!

If you are interested in becoming a sustaining donor, please visit: https://www.ncyte.org/support

What is NCYTE?

Rhythm…funk…innovation…excitement: that’s the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble (NCYTE).

Led by Founder and Director-Emeritus Gene Medler, Artistic Director Nicholas Van Young, Operations Director Caroline Vance, and Assistant Director Zoe Foote, NCYTE is one of the best youth tap ensembles in the world, featuring approximately 40 dancers aged 8 to 18 from across North Carolina. Don’t let the word “youth” fool you. These dancers tear up the floor with poise, passion and professionalism. NCYTE honors the traditions of this uniquely American form while infusing it with youthful energy, contemporary music, and innovative dances from some of the world’s most talented choreographers.

Founded in 1983 by JUBA award-winning Director-Emeritus Gene Medler, NCYTE's repertoire of dances spans traditional dances to modern, cutting-edge choreography. The Company has toured throughout the U.S. and the world, with performances in Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, Germany and Mexico. The company has toured or collaborated with the Greensboro Symphony, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Mallarme Chamber Players, and the North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra, among others.

Every fall, dancers from across North Carolina travel to the Ballet School of Chapel Hill and audition to become members of the company. Selected dancers attend a mandatory 3-hour company rehearsal every Saturday and must also spend time outside rehearsal learning dances and polishing choreography. NCYTE is a dancer-led company, and older dancers are expected to teach and guide younger dancers while younger dancers seek support and help from older dancers. Together, the group supports and encourages dancers' growth.

During their time in the company, dancers gain skills and experience, requiring tremendous patience, hard work, and dedication. NCYTE alums—including tap virtuosos Michelle Dorrance and Jason Janas—have gone on to Broadway and beyond. The list of choreographers contributing to the company’s repertory reads like a "who’s who" of the tap world, including the legendary Savion Glover.