CDM Alum Success Story!
A Maggie Valley native is dancing his way to a national stage after honing his skills in the hills of western North Carolina.
David Ferguson got an early start on his dance career, taking his first lessons not long after he learned to walk.
David grew up dancing at Angie’s Dance Academy in Clyde, NC. He started when he was 3 years old. his grandfather, Robert Lee Ferguson, put him in dance as a way to expend energy, because he had way too much of it as a 3-year-old. He was named Master Dance or North Carolina in 2003, Mister Dance of North Carolina in 2008 and 1st runner up to Mister Dance of America in 2009.
“I was in Taiwan for a while, continuing to learn dance there, and then I went to Montreal, Canada. When I was in Montreal, I auditioned for a company based in New York – Helen Simoneau Danse,” Ferguson said. “I didn’t hear back for several weeks, but then one day she called and offered me an apprenticeship. I never thought I would move to New York, it was the farthest thing from my mind, but in August I packed a bag and moved up there, and I’ve been there ever since.”
In the three years Ferguson has spent in New York, his dance career has taken off – he’s danced on Broadway, and he’s preparing to take part in the first national tour of the current Broadway iteration of “Fiddler on the Roof.” Getting to perform for Broadway shows, he said, is an experience unlike any other for a dancer who’s spent his entire life working on his art.
“Growing up in a small town and having something like Angie’s is amazing. She’s an amazing studio owner and teacher, and her employees are all wonderful,” Ferguson said. “To be able to have that here, and to have that ability to grow in dance here, it was amazing. We did a lot of competitions, and she exposed me to a lot of different dance styles through that. We traveled a lot, and I met a lot of choreographers through them.”