Debbie Allen

Biography

Debrah Kaye Allen, or as most know her Debbie Allen, is a woman of many talents. Born in Houston, Texas on January 16, 1950, Allen grew up dancing at the age of 3 years old and 2 years later she knew to wanted to perform professionally. Allen went on to audition at the Houston ballet school at the age of 12 years old, just to be rejected because of her skin color. Luckily, there was an instructor who saw her performing and decided to sneak Allen into the program. After a whole, Allen got caught for being in the dance program after she had been rejected, but she was such a great dancer they let her stay. Even though they let her stay Allen still faced racism and criticism because of her skin color. Allen also faced harsh critiques because of her body type and how it was “unsuited” for a dancer.

To the Top

Debbie Allen faced so much criticism that she decided to focus more on her studies than dancing. With that she joined the honor roll program and went to graduate from Howard University with cum laud and a degree in drama.

Later on, Debbie Allen started her path to stardom by landing several roles on Broadway, which led to TV appearances and commercials. In 1971, Allen became a chorus member in the musical “Purlie”. The following year Allen followed George Falson, to the Universal Dance Experience, and became his principal dancer and assistant. In 1993, Allen returned to Broadway and played the role of Beneatha Younger in “Raisin”. In 1980, Allen began receiving recognition after her performance as Anita in the Broadway production “ West Side Story”. The next year Allen made her movie debut in the film “Ragtime” and then ended up in the spotlight after her performance and choreography in the hit film “Fame”.

The film, “Fame”, then turned into a series which earned her recognition by international audiences. Allen continued to make appearances in the following series and films: WomanofSanQuentin,JojoDancer,YourLifeisCalling, SweetCharity,and many more. In 1988, Allen went on to begin her directing and producing career when she first directed “A Different World”. Debbie Allen became more than a triple threat. Debbie Allen all in all is an actress, dancer, choreographer, producer, director, and singer-songwriter.

Achievements & Awards

Debbie Allen has made big waves in the dance and film industry. Allen has been nominated for numerous awards and has won many. Allen has been nominated 20 times for an Emmy Award, won five in her lifetime, along with two Tony Awards and a Golden Globe Award. In 2001, Debbie Allen was appointed by President George W. Bush as a member of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities. The following is a list of the awards Debbie Allen has received in her lifetime for choreography, dancing, directing, and producing.

Primetime Emmy Awards:

Outstanding Television Movie (2020)

Outstanding Choreography for Scripted Programming (2021)

Outstanding Achievement in Choreography (1982, 1983, 1991)

Governors Award (2021)

Acapulco Black Film festival: Career Achievement Award (1998)

Black Reel Awards for Television: Outstanding Directing (2017 and 2022)

Essence Black Women in Hollywood: Honoree (2016)

Golden Apple Awards: Female Discovery of the Year (1982)

Golden Globes: Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series (1983)

NAACP:

Outstanding Choreography in Film and Television (1995)

Online Film and Television Association: OFTA TV Hall of Fame-Choreography (2019)

PGA Awards: Vision Award-Theatrical Motion Pictures (1998)

The Kennedy Center Honors: Kennedy Center Honors (2020)

Debbie Allen

In the year 2001, Debbie Allen founded and created the Debbie Allen Dance Academy (DADA). DADA is a non-profit organization that offers dance classes to children 4 and up. DADA uses dance, theater, and performance to enrich, inspire, and transform the lives of their students. Debbie Allen created this dance academy to allow students to dance and express themselves regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, or financial situation. DADA has heavy African American and Latino influence because of where it is located. Allen believes that nothing should hold you back from doing what you love and what you are meant to do. Debbie Allen went through so many struggles and obstacles just to dance. Dance was basically restricted for her because of her skin tone and body type. The Debbie Allen Dance Academy has put on many productions, the most popular one being the “Hot Chocolate Nutcracker”. In the year 2020, “Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker” went on to be produced on Netflix.

Dance Academy

Debbie Allen Monument

Debbie Allen has a couple of monuments, which is her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. The monument I have created for Debbie Allen is a statue of Allen holding up two of her ballet students in a ballet position. It will display who Debbie Allen was to not only her student but to those who know her as well. People do not just see Debbie Allen as a woman who has all these trophies and awards they know as an instructor, a mother figure, someone who has helped them through their troubles, someone who has made their dreams come true. This monument will be placed in front of the Houston Ballet School. This location is perfect as it will show that even though she was rejected at first because of certain obstacles, she still made it big and aspired for her dreams to come true.

Debbie Allen Monument at George Mason University

George Mason University has a dance program on campus. There is a building dedicated to the fine arts program called the Center of the Arts and the DeLaski Performing Arts Building. Debbie Allen’s monument would be placed somewhere inside the building near the dance department. Even though Debbie Allen did many other projects than just dance, the monument at first glance displays dance, so it only makes sense.

Debbie Allen Monument at Houston Ballet Academy

The monument should be placed on the corner, but in front of the Houston Ballet Academy. There is a stop light at the corner of the Houston Ballet Academy, which is great as the monument will be on full display for everyone to see. The monument will display how Debbie Allen still made it and fought to get into the academy even though they told her no. This monument shows that nothing was going to stop her from doing what she loved to do, which was dancing.

“If you change one person’s life, you feel like you’ve done something. But if you can change a whole lot of them looking a themselves differently, it’s amazing.”

“In places around the world where we do not speak the same language, or even understand that we pray to the same God, we dance to the same beat, that is “the one”.”