Nancy C. King

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 and on cruise lines, and have been 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), and the Arts and Humanities Award (Chamber of Commerce and Richard J. Productions) for bringing the arts to her community. She has represented New Jersey and the United States at invitational festivals and performance tours in Europe and the United States, including 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 produces "The Nutcracker" annually, bringing dancers from major companies, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, The Pennsylvania Ballet, Broadway, and film, to perform with the American Youth Dance Company. It has also sponsored performances for arts education in local schools and students with special needs, and helped raise money for 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 and 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." Nancy and her team have also developed a unique scholarship program within The Foundation to help students build and further their careers in dance and theatre arts.