It was perhaps the most fitting and prescient possible debut for Allen on the international stage, because it demonstrated what would become her hallmarks — grit, determination, and an unflinching belief in her own genius and that of other artists. It was a preview of the persona that would soon be on full display for audiences all over the globe, that of an artistic force of nature who demanded the best from those she worked with, and who took the time to use her own celebrity to celebrate their artistry. Grant was in large part modeled on Allen’s own experiences; she was an insanely talented performer who was first a student and then a teacher who demanded that her students use every drop of their talent to bring forth their brilliance. In fact, not only was she portraying a teacher on the show, but she was also teaching dance to the real-life actors who portrayed her students when the cameras weren’t rolling. “It was half, maybe 30% Lydia Grant and 70% Debbie Allen,” Allen said of her role on “Fame.” “I was dealing with a band of very talented young gypsy children — young adults who needed to be corralled and trained and directed. Every weekend, they were at my house learning the choreography. We were always rehearsing something to get ready for camera. I took on a mother or matriarch role with them. We went almost around the world. ‘Fame’ was so loved.” Her choreography and other work on “Fame” was so respected that at times the script for the show would simply say “DWD,” which stood for “Debbie Will Determine.” The year “Fame” debuted on television, Allen again came back to Howard to be honored at its 116th Charter Day. She also took time to sit on the steps of the stage of the Ira Aldridge Theater and listen to the hopes and dreams of student artists. The former member of The Howard Players told those assembled that Howard was instrumental in her career journey. ‘’Some of your best experiences will be right here at Howard,” she told the crowd, according to The Hilltop. “Some of my most creative dances were performed right on this very stage. Howard is great for motivating the spirit.” Just a few years after being rejected as a dancer by one college, boosted by the love she felt from Howard, You’ve got big dreams. You want fame. Well fame costs. And right here is where you start paying. In sweat.
FAME! Debbie Allen embodied the character Lydia Grant in multiple incarnations of “Fame.” Photo by Gary Null/ Getty Images
Allen became arguably one of the most famous dancers in the world, and her stock has continued to rise. Since that time, she has choreographed the Academy Awards seven times and won four Emmy Awards for choreography for her work on “Fame,” Motown’s 30th Anniversary special, and Dolly Parton’s “Christmas on the Square,” a television musical she directed and choreographed and for which she also won a fifth Emmy in the Outstanding Television Movie category as one of the movie’s executive producers. She also served as a lead choreographer on films including “Forget Paris,” “A Jazzman’s Blues,” and the 2024 Netflix movie “The Six Triple Eight.” During the Motown 30 special, Allen literally took the in-person and television audiences on a journey of dance through recorded history, showcasing African rituals, spiritual dance during American slavery, ragtime, the routines of 1960s Motown acts, and the artistry of Michael Jackson and M.C. Hammer. In a reflection of her own struggle to open the doors of dance training, she opened the show’s ballet tribute to Arthur Mitchell, founder of the Dance Theatre of Harlem with a monologue likely based on her life. “As a young girl, I had to have a great deal of imagination to picture myself as a ballet dancer, because in all of the concerts that I went to see and all of the books that I read, I didn’t see anybody dancing that looked like me,” she said. To make sure that doesn’t happen to other young people, Allen wrote her own books for children. “Dancing in the Wings,” tells the story of how a young girl becomes affirmed as a dancer, and “Brothers of the Knight” is about a family which includes brothers who love to dance. Now the Mattel toy company has also helped to ensure that no child fails to recognize their potential for greatness, using Allen
THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME? Debbie Allen is a multi-hyphenated dancer-actress-producer-director-singer-author-choreographer and more. Photo courtesy Debbie Allen.
University, in Washington, D.C.,” she told ICONS. “I had been making up little things before, but that was the first time I ever really did something that made me understand what choreography was about.” It didn’t take her long to make her mark after graduating from Howard in 1971, having studied Greek literature, speech, and theatre. That same year, she performed in a Broadway production of “Purlie,” based on a book by fellow former Howard student Ossie Davis, and then became principal dancer for George Faison’s Universal Dance Experience. She returned to Broadway to appear in an adaptation of “Raisin in the Sun,” before taking on the role that would define her early career — a principal cast member in productions of “Fame.” Even as a newly-minted alumna, she inspired Howard students. She returned to The Mecca in 1977 to perform with the Jason Taylor Theatre Movement, garnering a standing ovation in Cramton Auditorium after singing and dancing to “Music and the Mirror” from the hit Broadway play “A Chorus Line,” which she had also performed on the 1977 variety series “3 Girls 3.” As reported by The Hilltop, she called Howard “her greatest experience of growth and her place of maturity.” Much of the versatility, adaptability, and determination she demonstrated in college and thereafter came from values taught to her by her mother, who died this year at age 102. Allen helps others embrace those values in advice she gives to performers. “The advice that I would give is what kind of came
to me in a very hard way from my mom, which is you have to take responsibility for whatever happens and you cannot be the victim,” she said. “It’s about staying in the race because it’s so easy to get out of it. I mean, I stepped off the track after that experience I had at North Carolina. But my mom did not let me have a pity party about what they did and what they didn’t want. She made me responsible. So, I went to Howard and everything turned around. Everything turned around. I had the most incredible professors who are still my advisers, such as Dr. Eleanor Traylor. I had the professors of life all around me and it was a gift. It was like destiny that I was not accepted to North Carolina and landed at Howard.” Allen starred as dancer Lydia Grant in the movie and television versions of “Fame,” a story about students at a performing arts school, at a time when few Black performers were featured on either the silver or small screens. “Fame” is also where Allen put her directing skills into full gear, choreographing and directing the show’s dance scenes when the actual credited directors proved unable. Her work earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy and two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Choreography. “You’ve got big dreams,” began her famous lines from the “Fame” opening credits. “You want fame. Well fame costs. And right here is where you start paying. In sweat.”
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Howard Magazine
Fall 2025
Fall 2025
Howard Magazine
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