Nancy C. King is the Founder and current Artistic Director of the King Centre for the Performing Arts and the New Jersey Foundation (NJF) for Dance and Theatre Arts. NFJ is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization established to advance the performing arts and education. Educated at both Rider University and Hedgerow Dramatic School, she is the artistic director of the American Youth Dance Company and the American Jazz Dance Ensemble.
Nancy is a past president of Dance Masters of America, Inc. New York City Chapter #26 and a past national director of the National Miss Dance of America Scholarship Pageant. Nancy is also a member of the National Association of Professional Women.
After an extensive career in dance and theatre, Nancy, a national master teacher and choreographer, founded the King Centre for the Performing Arts in 1970. Her students have won significant awards and have appeared on Broadway, Film, Television, National Tours, Industrials, and Soap Operas. They have also performed with the New York Radio City Rockettes, Cruise Lines and were featured in Commercials.
Nancy has been the proud recipient of the Woman of the Year Award 2018 (National Association of Professional Women), the Director’s Achievement Award (Young Americans Dance Festival), the Excellence in Dance Award (Dance Teacher Magazine), the Arts and Humanities Award (the Chamber of Commerce and Richard J. Productions) for bringing the arts to her community. She has also represented New Jersey and the United States at invitational festivals and performance tours of Europe and the United States at The New Jersey Performing Arts Center and Dance Excellence in California.
Nancy founded the New Jersey Foundation for Dance and Theatre Arts to bring dance and theatre to the community while giving performers a vehicle to advance their careers. The Foundation has produced “The Nutcracker” annually, bringing dancers from major companies to perform with the American Youth Dance Company. These guest performers come from: the New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, The Pennsylvania Ballet, Broadway, and film. In addition, the Foundation has sponsored performances for arts education in local schools and students with special. It has also helped raise money for numerous charities, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, The United Way, The American Diabetes Association, Dancers Responding to AIDS, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and the Hackensack Children’s Hospital.
NJF has also produced area musical theatre workshops as well as performances of “Carousel”, “The Odd Couple”, “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”, “Steel Magnolias”, “Last of the Red Hot Lovers”, “All Shook Up”, “Prisoner of Second Avenue”, and “Grease”. In addition, Nancy and her team have developed and designed a unique scholarship program for students and implemented into The Foundation to help those students build and further their careers in dance and theatre arts.