Nancy Whyte has performed with various dance companies in New York and on the West Coast, among them Ballet Northwest, Ballet Folk of Moscow, Idaho, the first season company for Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, and the New York Character Ballet Ensemble and the Raduga Folk Ballet in New York. She lived and studied extensively in New York under Nicolas Orloff, Vladimir Dokoudovsky, Kira Guzikova as well as many other internationally renowned teachers. She has also studied classical repertoire with Illaria Ladre, and the Vaganova syllabus under Jurgen Schneider, Janina Cunova, Irina Kalpokova and Egon Bishoff. Nancy Whyte holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance from Evergreen State College.
In 1984 Nancy Whyte was awarded the Bellingham Arts Commission’s acclaimed Mayor's Arts Award for her contribution to the arts and specifically to ballet in Bellingham, WA. In 1991 Nancy Whyte was invited to the Soviet Union as a panelist with the Citizen Ambassador's Exchange program's world wide "Late-Twentieth Century Choreographic Trends" Symposium. She is co-author of the book Memoirs of a Child of Theatre Street, published in December, 1993. The National Dance Association awarded Nancy Whyte a 'Plaudit Award' in 2004 for her contributions to dance in education. Nancy Whyte was one of only a select few choreographers nationwide to be selected as part of the Glenda Brown Choreography Project in 2004,2005, 2006 2007,and 2008.
Whyte received her early training in the Willamette Valley area in Oregon under Eloez Walker. She then studied at the American School of Dance in Hollywood, CA under Eugene Loring; and with Ruthanna Boris at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. before studying in New York.
Previous work of Nancy Whyte in dance education and performance includes teaching at Western Washington University, directing The Garden Street Dance Players, co-directing the Experimental Performance Players, co-directing the Experimental Performance Workshop, directing the Alpha and Omega Worship Dancers, instructing creative dance at St. Paul's Primary School, and having schools in Albany, Hillsboro and Gresham, Oregon. She taught dance classes and directed performances at Assumption Catholic School in Bellingham as well as formulating guidelines for integrating dance into the curriculum of the school. Ms. Whyte has been teaching and directing dance since 1964.
She is listed in a number of the Marquis directories (Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in American Women, Who's Who in the United States and Who's Who in the West) and has been listed in the Directory of International Biography.
In summer, 2009, Ms. Whyte closed her school and moved to New York City. Currently she teaches privately in New York, and in the Afterschool Enrichment Program for the Richard Rodgers School of the Arts and Technology, as well as being substitute staff and guest teacher for several studios in and around New York.