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Stories of Impact: Caroline Calouche & Co. and the Charlotte Cirque & Dance Center

from Caroline Calouche

This Story of Impact highlights Caroline Calouche & Co. and the Charlotte Cirque & Dance Center, a Women’s Impact Fund grantee.

For professional dancers and circus artists, finding work can be as hard as the work itself. Job listing sites exist, but many performers don’t know about them or can’t afford the membership fees to see the postings. Even when the listings reach people, they don’t always reach the right ones. Talented artists get missed, and companies miss out on them.

Caroline Calouche, Artistic and Executive Director of Caroline Calouche & Co., decided not to wait for performers to find her. This season she went looking for them. She contacted universities and colleges across North Carolina and reached out to colleagues in the industry to spread the word about paid performance opportunities. Her goal is always to create a cast that reflects the community it performs for: artists of different ages, skin tones, backgrounds, and skills.

The search also revealed something to celebrate. Many of this season’s performers are Charlotte natives who left to study at universities and professional training schools and have now come home. They began their training in Charlotte, sharpened their craft across the country, and have returned to share it with the community that first inspired them. Every paid contract helps keep talented artists in Charlotte and builds a city where performers can make a career without leaving home.

Meet these artists in The Three Spirits, the company’s new Christmas Carol-inspired circus and dance production. You can see the premiere on December 11–13 at the Booth Playhouse at the Blumenthal Performing Arts or catch them on the road.  Then mark your calendars for one of their audience favorites in Star Gazer April 23–25. Read about the cast here: https://www.carolinecalouche.org/season/threespirits 

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Janet LaBar

Executive Director​
jlabar@womensimpactfund.org

With more than 25 years of experience, Janet has a proven track record of leading organizations and teams in developing strategies that foster thriving communities. Her career is dedicated to the well-being of the places she serves, and the people and businesses within them, positioning her as a trusted sounding board, critical thinker, and purposeful protagonist across corporate, government, education, entrepreneurial, and civic spheres.
Janet joined Women’s Impact Fund in June 2025 to guide one of Charlotte’s most respected, women-led philanthropic organizations into its next phase of growth and impact. In partnership with the Women’s Impact Fund team, Board, Advisors, members, volunteers, and key community partners, she will continue strengthening communities by maximizing women’s leadership in philanthropy through collective giving, education, and engagement.
Inspired by her family, teams who dare greatly, and people and communities striving to be their best selves, Janet’s impactful career includes leadership roles as President and CEO of Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, President and CEO of Greater Portland Inc, and Chief Performance Officer of Greater Phoenix Economic Council. As a first-generation Filipino American, her lived experience deeply informs her professional drive to create equitable economic growth and opportunity in the metro areas she’s served.
She holds a BA in Communication Arts from the University of West Florida and an MBA in Marketing from the University of Phoenix. Janet and her husband James are proud parents to an older daughter, and a daughter and son who are twins.