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Seated before a lighted makeup table in her flower-filled Broadway dressing room, dancer Vivian Nixon is the star of the show. Lean and lithe, she moves with grace—even in Ugg boots. Her hands are expressive and her smile is high-wattage.
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| Vivian Nixon |
Nixon, 21, has a lot to smile about. She is graduating from the Ailey/Fordham B.F.A. Program in Dance this spring and starring in the Broadway musical Hot Feet, where her performance has earned excellent reviews. (The New York Times noted her “exuberance” and “sharp, exciting technique.”)
“Who knew? I thought I’d be a graduating senior without a job and instead I’m dancing on Broadway,” she said.
Nixon committed to dance at age 13.
“I just knew,” she recalled. “I’ve always danced. My folks have footage of me as a little girl choreographing my cousins and bossing my brother Norman.”
Some attribute Nixon’s talent to good genes. She is the daughter of dancer-choreographer-actress Debbie Allen and former NBA All-Star Norm Nixon. Others attribute her skills to hard work.
“Her parents have done an amazing job with her,” said mentor Sylvia Waters, artistic director of the Ailey II dance company. “Vivian has grown up in the business, but she is not at all spoiled. She is a very hard worker. Her technical ability is just flawless and her energy level terrific. She is her own person—smart, perceptive, instinctive, warm and genuine. She’s a generous performer and when she’s on stage, it is impossible to take your eyes off her.”
A native of Santa Monica, Calif., Nixon assumed she’d attend a West Coast college. She’d studied for three years (grades eight through 10) at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C., and decided she had endured enough cold winters.
“But I realized I wanted both dance and strong academics in a college,” she said. “So I started looking at Fordham, where I could get the education I wanted and dance with Alvin Ailey. I was impressed—good school, good academics, good dancing and amazing dorms.”
Fordham was equally impressed with Nixon.
“We had a strong group of applicants that year and Vivian was a stand-out,” said Ana Marie Forsythe, co-director of the Ailey/Fordham program and chair of the Horton technique department at the Ailey School. “Vivian never wore a sign saying ‘I’m Debbie Allen’s daughter. Treat me differently.’ From the very beginning, she fit into the group. She knew she wanted to be a dancer and she knew she wanted to train her mind.”
Nixon’s only regret is that she couldn’t take more academic classes—maybe even earn a second degree. Her favorite class, she said, was Philosophy of Human Nature, which she took with Jennifer Scuro, a postdoctoral teaching fellow.
“It was the best class I took in the entire four years,” said Nixon. “It really made me think.”
Denise Jefferson, director of the Ailey School, director of the Ailey/Fordham program and an artist in residence at the University, sees in Nixon a “wonderful pairing of intellect, mind and spirit.”
“The first thing that struck me about Vivian was her talent,” Jefferson said. “As I got to know her, I saw she was focused, disciplined and very respectful of the work—the academic as well as the dance. During her time here, she really reaped the benefits of Fordham. And now, she’s headed to the top—in whatever direction she chooses.” |
