Chandra McCloud Glover

Dance Department Chair, Northwest School of the Arts

Education: Bachelor of Arts in Dance Education, UNC Charlotte (2003)

Hometown: Durham, N.C.

Chandra McCloud Glover’s love of dance developed after seeing an Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performance in middle school. Growing up in Durham, N.C., she spent summers at American Dance Festival as an intern and student, focusing on composition and technique. While at UNC Charlotte, Chandra studied dance education under Pamela Sofras, interned at North Carolina Dance Theater (now Charlotte Ballet), and was in multiple faculty performances.

A few months into her first year at UNC Charlotte, the dance department felt like “one big family,” she remembers. “In the beginning, classes were pretty quiet,” she says. “We’d come in, dance, and leave. It wasn’t until we had breakfast at Shoney’s in our Halloween costumes that we began to open up to one another, had lunch together, and began hanging out outside of class.”

Chandra appreciates the multidimensional approach to dance that her education provided.

“One of the things the dance department does well is to make sure you are a well-rounded student. Not only are you learning various dance techniques, but you are learning history, anatomy, music, and pedagogy. We were also required to take a class in costume, tech theater, and theater. This increased my appreciation for the arts, allowed me to see connections between the arts and core classes, and made me more knowledgeable all-around.”

Upon graduating, she became a dance educator with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. She currently teaches middle school and high school dance classes at Northwest School of the Arts (NWSA), where she serves as the Dance Department Chair.

“The structure of the program (at UNC Charlotte) led me to design my curriculum so that my students know how multifaceted the art of dance is, as well as to see the connections between the arts and academic classes. My next step as Dance Department Chair is to redesign the high school program to include a requirement that students must take at least one arts class outside of the traditional dance classes.”  

Recognition of Chandra’s exceptional teaching has been consistent over the past decade. In 2012, she received the Arts & Science Council Cato Excellence in Teaching Award for integrating academics into the arts, leading her to become a member of the Education & Outreach Committee at Charlotte Ballet. In 2015, she became a National Artist Teaching Fellow, allowing her to study at American Dance Festival and at the Ailey school. She was named Charlotte Ballet’s 2018 Dance Educator of the Year, Northwest School of the Arts’ 2020 Teacher of the Year, and became a National Board Certified Teacher in CTE in 2021.

Chandra also serves as a Board Member of NC Dance Educators Organization and State Director for National Honor Society of Dance Arts, where her focus is building student leaders.

Several years ago, she began a Repertory Scholarship Concert at NWSA, which has given over $250,000 in scholarships, including her “Walk In Your Excellence Scholarship” that allows students to continue their dance training and purchase dancewear. An avid grant writer, she has obtained several grants to equip students with 21st-century skills, including integrating coding and dance.

Whether addressing her own students or dance students at her alma mater, Chandra has this advice:

“Don’t strive for perfection, because it does not exist. Strive to be better than you were yesterday. Be sure to give yourself grace and know that it’s okay to ask for help, it’s okay to say, ‘I am not sure. Let me do some research and get back to you.’ And people are not mind readers, so you make sure you communicate. Lastly, closed mouths don’t get fed.”

Chandra is the recipient of the 2022 Distinguished Alumni Award in Dance.