Young dancer killed in Raleigh Christmas parade accident. What we know about the troupe.
READ MORE
Raleigh Christmas Parade Coverage
On Nov. 19, 2022, the driver of a truck towing a float in the Raleigh Christmas Parade apparently lost control of the vehicle. A young girl died after she was struck. This is ongoing coverage by The News & Observer.
Expand All
An 11-year-old girl was struck and killed in an accident at the Raleigh Christmas Parade this weekend when a driver apparently lost control of his truck, which was pulling a float for CC & Company Dance Complex.
Authorities have not yet released the name of the victim, but she was a member of the dance studio and participating in the parade.
“We are devastated. Our dance family is a close-knit group and today our hearts are broken,” said Christy Curtis, founder and owner of CC & Company Dance Complex, said in an emailed statement to The News & Observer on Monday. The statement came through a public relations firm. “We are working closely with authorities as they determine what happened and why.”
Here’s what we know about CC & Company.
What is CC & Company Dance Complex?
CC & Company Dance Complex is a well-regarded dance studio that has been around for 18 years. There are two Raleigh locations: one on Six Forks Road, and another on Falls of Neuse Road.
The school is for dancers beginning at age 2.
Curtis taught Oscar-winner Ariana DeBose, a North Carolina native who’s most well known for her roles in “West Side Story” and “Hamilton.” DeBose attended CC & Co. from 2002 to 2009.
DeBose continues to work with students at the studio when she’s in town.
“My heart breaks for my dance family,” DeBose wrote over the weekend in an Instagram story, which has since expired. “I ask the Raleigh community to hold space for these good people whose lives will never be the same.”
CC & Company dancers have toured with world-famous musicians, such as Taylor Swift, Rihanna and Madonna, the studio’s website says.
Four dancers from the school have been top-10 finalists in the reality competition television show “So You Think You Can Dance.”
What we know about the Raleigh Christmas parade accident
Landen Christopher Glass, 20, was driving a GMC pickup truck that was pulling one of two CC & Co. floats in the parade.
According to eyewitness accounts, he was honking his horn and yelling out of his window that he could not stop. The truck was stopped by a group that included Raleigh police officers about a block from where the girl was struck.
Glass in the past had competed in dance competitions as a member of the CC & Co. troupe.
He was charged hours after the incident with misdemeanor death by motor vehicle, careless and reckless driving, improper equipment, unsafe movement and carrying a firearm in a parade, The News & Observer previously reported.
The truck Glass was driving had several after-market modifications and was registered in Virginia. Glass is cooperating with the investigation, which is ongoing, police said.
How CC & Co. Dance Complex responded to accident
A statement posted Sunday to the dance school’s social media pages asks for prayers.
The Facebook post received over 2,000 interactions by 12 p.m. Monday, and the Instagram post was liked nearly 16,000 times.
“Refrain from judgment regarding what happened until we know more and the authorities have finished their investigation. What we do know is that our hearts are broken and we must find ways to help each other through this,” the post says.
“We never expected to experience a day like today, and the only thing getting us through is the tremendous love and support we’ve seen expressed among our CC & Co. Dance family.”
The studio is closed Nov. 21 to 27 for Thanksgiving break, which was already scheduled prior to Saturday’s tragedy.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the model of the truck driven by Landen Glass. He was driving a modified GMC pickup truck with a Denali trim package.
This story was originally published November 21, 2022 at 12:59 PM.
.JPG)
