Charlotte Dancer is NYU Bound | Senior Portraits

My friend Clay is a true artist. He is an amazing dancer and he is also scholar. When his family asked me to photograph his senior portraits, I knew this would be an awesome collaboration. I grew up dancing and could not wait to match his graceful movements with the perfect Uptown Charlotte locations. Below are some absolutely breathtaking dance poses and jumps, as well as traditional senior pictures too. We even snuck mom and dad into a few images.

NYU Tisch School of the Arts

Clay currently attends Grace Academy in Matthews, NC. He is graduating on May 15th and is a recent inductee into the National Society of High School Scholars. His next stop is New York University (NYU) in New York City! Clay will attend NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts to pursue a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts (BFA) in Dance. The dance program at Tisch is very unique. It is only three years and two summer residencies instead of the traditional four years. This ensures that dancers are placed in companies as early as possible to extend the life of their dance careers. Over his college summers, Clay will have the option to study abroad. Tisch has affiliations with dance companies in Berlin, Prague, and Salzburg.

“This is another unique aspect to Tisch Dance, as I haven’t seen study abroad opportunities for dance at any of the other schools I considered. Tisch Dance is highly focused on contemporary dance and choreography/performance opportunities, which was why I was initially drawn to the program.” 

Clay Houston, Grace Academy Class of 2021

Post college, Clay plans to join a contemporary dance company. He loves Alonzo King LINES Ballet which is based in California but I would also love to dance internationally. He is interested in several companies in Israel, such as Batsheva and Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company.

Because dancers often retire early, Clay plans to double major/minor in biology or biomedical sciences while at NYU. After retiring from dance, he hopes to attend medical school to become a Dermatologist. I love Clay’s commitment to his passion and his education. He is truly a lover of the arts and the sciences.

Dance Training In Charlotte and Beyond

Clay started dancing with Charlotte Dance Alliance when he was only 4 years old. He competed both regionally and nationally on their Elite Competition Team from 2008-2012. He then joined Charlotte Ballet Academy in 2012 and joined the pre-professional division on full scholarship in 2020. Clay spent his summers studying with some of the nation’s best dance programs including Chautauqua Dance Institute (2015), Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (2016), Houston Ballet (2017) where he was invited to a short-term stay in their professional program on scholarship, Alonzo King LINES Ballet (2019), and The Juilliard School (2020). Yes, I just said Juilliard. And yes, it’s a really BIG deal. Clay is obviously amazingly talented. If you haven’t seen him dance, you are missing out.

I always like to ask my seniors if they found any silver linings in the Covid-19 restrictions we’ve all endured for the past year. Clay had a very positive outlook:

“Although Zoom was really terrible for dance, one silver lining is that I connected with people across the globe. I met a dancer from Israel during the Juilliard summer program. I also took workshops at Alonzo King LINES Ballet and Movement Migration during the fall/winter where dancers reached as far as London and France. Being virtual gave me opportunities to take workshops outside of my regular summer intensives.”

I’m so excited to share these images with you all. Clay is a star. We love performance art in my house and Clay is among the best. Getting to spend time with him was such a treat for me. Photographing him was a dream. Thank you Clay, Cynthia and David for trusting me to capture this special time.

Clay – You are going to do amazing things at NYU. I can’t wait to hear all about it and watch you shine even more than you already do. Get ready to put your tour guide hat on too. You know we hope to come for a visit! Thank you for letting me play a small part in documenting your senior year.

Surprise! His dance teacher walked by during the senior portrait session and jumped in a picture. I love unanticipated moments. And you know I love candids.