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Alexander David Herzing (b. 1992) is an American dancer, actor, teacher, and activist currently attending UNC-Chapel Hill. He is the current president of UNC's Blank Canvas Dance Company.

Early Life

Alex Herzing was born in Statesville, North Carolina on August 21, 1992, to JoAnn Share and David Herzing. His father worked for Ham's Restaurants while his mother was a stay-at-home mom. His sister, Marli, was born in 1993. Following a move to Greensboro, North Carolina and the birth of his brother Jacob in 1995, JoAnn and David divorced in 1996. JoAnn remarried in 1998, and the family (without David) moved to Carson City, Nevada.

His mother is of German, Italian, Canadian, Bohemian, and Irish descent and his father is mainly of German descent.

Carson City

While in Nevada, Herzing developed a fondness for first soccer, then karate, and ultimately dance, following in the footsteps of his sister Marli. He danced competitively starting in the seventh grade. During his time in Nevada his mother had two more children, Josie and Sadie. Herzing also began learning Spanish and taking accelerated and honor classes towards the end of middle school. He attended Carson High School for two years.

Raleigh

Following a dispute with his stepfather in 2007, Herzing moved to Raleigh, North Carolina to live with his father. During this time he attended Needham B. Broughton High School, where he was an active member of the Gay-Straight Alliance and the first male member of the Dance Company. He graduated in 2009 as an International Baccalaureate Diploma Recipient.

Chapel Hill

Herzing is in his senior year at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he is majoring in Middle Grades Education (MGE) with a concentration in both Language Arts and Social Studies. At UNC, he has been an active member in both Blank Canvas Dance Company, of which he is the current president. Blank Canvas, which is all levels and all styles of dance, placed Herzing in their highest level offered during his first semester in 2009. He became webmaster of the company in spring 2010 and choreographed his first piece for Blank Canvas in the fall of that year. He became Vice President of Production in spring 2011, and President in spring of 2013. Through Blank Canvas he made friends involved Pauper Players, a musical theatre company on campus. He began by assistant choreographing a production of Sweet Charity in fall 2010, followed by assistant choreographing All Shook Up the next semester. In fall of 2011 Herzing had his first onstage role as a featured dancer in Guys & Dolls, then as an ensemble member of Broadway Melodies, an annual musical theatre parody show. His most recent role with Pauper Players was Roger in Grease, and he is currently head choreographer for their production of The Rocky Horror Show.

At UNC, Herzing has a job scanning articles in Walter R. Davis Library, which he originally got as part of the Federal Work-Study Program.

Academia

Herzing began his college career with the intention of obtaining a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary School Education with a concentration in Language Arts. Following severe budget cuts by the UNC School of Education in the 2010-2011 school year, the program was cut in half, and Herzing unknowingly still applied to the program, believing his GPA to be of high enough standards. He was rejected in March 2011 but given an option to re-apply to the School, this time as a Middle Grades Education major. In the transitory period between switching majors, Herzing considered both an English major and Communications major, and had officially switched over to Communications previous to hearing from the Middle Grades Program. He was eventually accepted and has been in the program since.

Herzing also briefly pursued a Creative Writing Minor from 2010-2012 before realizing that he did not have enough time to complete the requirements necessary. Within the English Department's fiction track, Herzing took Introductory (under Lori Ostlund), Intermediate (under Lawrence Naumoff), and Advanced Fiction Writing. He also considered an English minor but was unable to fully complete it. During his academic career he has taken a diverse assortment of classes in the English Department, either for fun or to prepare for his concentration in Language Arts. Herzing also took Women's Studies 101 during his first semester, which he believes is a key class at UNC. He credits his time at UNC with making him an education and gay rights activist. Herzing has made the dean's list at UNC twice.

As a student teacher in training in the MGE program, Herzing has tutored at Lakewood Montessori Middle School, Gravelly Hill Middle School, and A.L. Stanback Middle School. Previously, as an underclassman, he tutored second and third graders at Mary Scroggs Elementary School.

Personal Life

Herzing came out as gay in 2006, during his first year of high school. His father, David, is also gay. He currently lives with his father in Concord, North Carolina, and works with him at Afton Tavern, where David is the general manager. His mother, JoAnn, who is now a neonatal intensive care nurse, still lives in Carson City with his siblings, Jacob, Josie, and Sadie. His sister Marli is a first year student at the University of Nevada-Reno.

He has edited the Wikipedia pages of Marina Abramovic, Carson High School, and Needham Broughton High School.