Dancers from the Debbie Allen Dance Academy will take over classes at Loyola Marymount University next week during the first of six events designed to connect dance students with professionals.
From Monday, Feb. 15 to Friday, Feb. 19, dancers from the academy founded by award-winning director and choreographer Debbie Allen will teach students about choreography and technique. The weeklong event will wrap up at 5 p.m. Feb. 19 with a talk by Allen, a three-time Emmy Award winner in choreography for the TV series “Fame” and “The Motown 25th,” and who has directed and choreographed for artists including Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson.
The weeklong session, the first in a series called 6th-Week Workshop, is funded by an anonymous donation that will support five additional events for LMU dance students – one per semester – involving professional dancers.
“Any time a student gets to interface with a professional here on campus, it’s important preparation for life after graduation,” said Professor Patrick Damon Rago, chairman of LMU’s dance program.
The Debbie Allen Dance Academy workshop comes just about a month after a senior member of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Co. held a series of classes for LMU dance students. That event, also designed to connect students with professionals, stems from a unique collaborative partnership between the two organizations that was announced in the spring of 2015.
