Taylor Ayotte began her formal ballet training at age 5 at the Green Bay School of Dance. At age 14, she accepted an invitation to study full-time at the School of American Ballet under Kay Mazzo, Suki Schorer, and Susan Pilarre. In her four years there, she performed in the annual workshop performances, New York Choreographic Institute, and participated as both artist and choreographer in the Student Choreographic Workshop. She attended summer courses on full scholarship at Pacific Northwest Ballet and the School of American Ballet. Ms. Ayotte’s featured roles with Carolina Ballet include the Principal Woman in George Balanchine’s La Valse, Tall Girl in Rubies, Principal Woman in Emeralds, and Principal Couple in Zalman Raffael’s Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 1. In addition, she originated the role of Alice in Gianna Reisen’s Alice in Wonderland, as well as Carmen in Amy Hall Garner’s Carmen Suite. Her repertoire also includes Zalman Raffael’s In the Gray and Metaphorical Heart, Lynn Taylor-Corbett’s Chiaroscuro and The Ugly Duckling, and George Balanchine’s Apollo and Agon, among others. Ayotte joined Carolina Ballet as a trainee in 2016, and was promoted to the corps de ballet in 2017. She was later promoted to soloist in 2020, and principal dancer in 2022.
