John E. North’s professional career has come almost full circle — almost full circle geographically that is. The new assistant director for dance at The Hartt Community Division of the University of Hartford got his professional Actors Association Equity card performing at The Coachlight Dinner Theater in East Windsor while performing in “Sweet Charity” in 1986 when he was 22.
Since then, North had a successful career in performance and choreography, as well as in arts administration. A graduate of Hope College with a degree in dance and theatre, the upstate New York native began his career in arts administration with his employment at Pentacle/DanceWorks, a nonprofit arts service organization based in Manhattan. He continued working as an arts administrator with the Lincoln Center complex of New York City at The New York Philharmonic, The School of American Ballet and The New York City Ballet in the fields of development, marketing, audience services and public relations.
For part of his career, North also helped launch “Leeza’s Place,” a Leeza Gibbon’s Memory Foundation project that established respite care for people tending to Alzheimer’s patients. North helped open the first center in New York City.
“That was an incredible experience,” he said.
In 2004, the urge hit him to open a theater in Hannibal, Mo., the birthplace of Samuel Clemens, known locally as author Mark Twain. North and his partner of 18 years started the Hannibal Performing Arts Center at the Orpheum Center. It ran for four years before finally closing due to funding problems.
It was then that North decided to come back to the East Coast to be closer to family and to where he launched his career as a performer.
He and his partner liked Hartford because of its proximity to New York and Boston, as well their families along the Northeast seaboard.
His move back East landed him a job at Hartt, which is North’s first taste of the academic world.
“A lot of my career has been in the nonprofit arts and I have a big passion for arts in education,” said North, 46, adding how arts education can make a student well-rounded in all of their subject areas.
North sounds excited about the Hartt Community Division’s outreach and the opportunity to work with all different age groups.
“It’s a nice fit for me to be in this environment,” he said. “I’ve been in so many different worlds but they’re all connected.”
