Ms.  Cheryl Stafford
Dance Promotion in the Community Award

Ms. Cheryl Stafford, founder and artistic director of The Court Dancers for 30 years, is a professional dancer, singer, director and choreographer, and has been researching, performing and teaching historical dance since 1978. Classically trained in ballet, modern dance and voice at the University of Cincinnati Conservatory, she also studied historical dance with many noted scholars and authors, and performed with the Court Dance Company of New York as a guest artist on several occasions.  Ms. Stafford danced in the PBS/BBC Television Series "Dancing," and can be seen performing historical dance clips on the "American Memories" web pages of the Library of Congress. She has performed at Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center,

Boston Early Music Festival, and with numerous early music ensembles across the United States.  Ms. Stafford has reconstructed/choreographed many historical operas/ballets, as well as presented over 350 historical dance performances nationwide. The past 20 years have been spent directing and choreographing more modern musical theater productions as well as historical. Ms. Stafford’s focus in recent years has been as an advocate for dance with the hope that it is recognized as a skill, an art, and a health benefit for all. Dance should be integrated into school curricula in as many ways as possible. She advocates for movement as meaning, reinforcement of mental activity, fostering community, releasing tension and anger, and instilling a sense of self in all.  NDS is pleased to announce Cheryl Stafford’s selection as the 2019 Dance Promotion in the Community Award recipient.