With help from the legendary Debbie Allen, wildfire survivors find healing in dance

Saja White performs a hip hop dance taught by Laurieann Gibson during Debbie Allen Dance Academy’s “Dancing in the Light: Healing with the Arts” dance class at Pasadena City College Mar 9, 2025. “Dancing in the Light: Healing with the Arts” is a free community dance series that supports people affected by wildfires in Southern California.(Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)

Former Los Angeles Lakers star and CFO of Debbie Allen Dance Academy Norm Nixon participates in a Latin dance lesson during Debbie Allen Dance Academy’s “Dancing in the Light: Healing with the Arts” dance class in Pasadena, CA Mar 9, 2025. “Dancing in the Light: Healing with the Arts” is a free community dance series that supports people affected by wildfires in Southern California.(Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)

Avery Colvert participates in a hip hop dance lesson taught by Laurieann Gibson during Debbie Allen Dance Academy’s “Dancing in the Light: Healing with the Arts” dance class at Pasadena City College Mar 9, 2025. “Dancing in the Light: Healing with the Arts” is a free community dance series that supports people affected by wildfires in Southern California.(Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)

Hip hop dance instructor Laurieann Gibson leads a group of dancers during Debbie Allen Dance Academy’s “Dancing in the Light: Healing with the Arts” dance class at Pasadena City College Mar 9, 2025. “Dancing in the Light: Healing with the Arts” is a free community dance series that supports people affected by wildfires in Southern California.(Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)

Walter Ramirez performs a hip hop dance taught by Laurieann Gibson during Debbie Allen Dance Academy’s “Dancing in the Light: Healing with the Arts” dance class at Pasadena City College Mar 9, 2025. “Dancing in the Light: Healing with the Arts” is a free community dance series that supports people affected by wildfires in Southern California.(Photo by Andy Holzman, Contributing Photographer)

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Lenaya Hastin, 10, of Pasadena experienced terror and trauma when the Eaton fire raged near her home.

“You could see the fire on the mountains and I was scared,” she said.

And while their home was ultimately spared, the drama of the evacuation, the news reports she witnessed, and the devastation wrought, including the loss of her school, left an intense mark on her and her peers.

“I felt very scared and alone and emotional … It feels like that I have to get the emotions out of my body and out of my head,” Lenaya said.

That’s precisely why Debbie Allen Dance Academy is providing the Los Angeles community with a free series of classes called “Dancing in the Light: Healing Through Arts,” which aims to give people impacted in any way by the fires an opportunity to find moments to literally shake it off.

“Dance is transformative and healing, and there will be so much joy that everyone walks away with after they have classes with us,” said Allen, who spent the day Sunday, March 10, at Pasadena City College sharing instruction with more than 100 participants.

Thanks to a superstar collection of dance coaches who are donating their time, including Lyrik Cruz, Laurieann Gibson, and Brandon O’Neal, who were in Pasadena to teach salsa, hiphop and jazz, respectively, the initiative is encouraging people to dance away their stressors and heal with the benefit of a communal experience.

“It is just a way of processing,” said Allen, a legendary choreographer, actor, producer and director with five Emmy Awards to her credit. “It’s something that I’ve known for a long time.”

Allen shared about growing up in the segregated South, where she was excluded from certain dance classes. In response, her mother actually moved the family to Mexico, where Allen got the opportunity to pursue her passion.

“When I did dance I felt free. I felt powerful,” she said. “My mom said that is my life and that is the path I need to follow and she did everything she could to give me opportunities … so I know what dance does.”

Allen took active part in the dancing, which was held on the large floor of the college’s Hutto Patterson Gymnasium. People enjoyed trying different steps, as guided by instructors, and Allen did her part to offer tips and inspiration to participants of all ages.

Allen’s husband, Norm Nixon, a former L.A. Lakers champion, was also in the house and took part in some of the dancing.

Druciel Ford of Pasadena saw Sunday’s dance workshop as a chance for her granddaughter, Mulan Chao, 9, to work out some of her emotions.

“Many of her friends are so devastated because of the fire,” Ford said. “This is really a good event that will allow them to just come and breathe.

She pointed out that children her granddaughter’s age had to first grapple with the pandemic, and now the fires.

“She’s only been on the earth for a few years,” Ford said, noting that while they didn’t lose their house, Mulan and her friends — including Lenaya — lost their school, Pasadena Rosebud Academy.

Mulan shared her feelings following the Eaton fire.

“I was angry, scared and sad,” she said.

“It makes me feel, like, happier when I dance and hear the music and dance with my friends and stuff,” said Mulan, who has been dancing for four years.

Leslie Peters of Burbank, a nurse and minister who has spent a lot of time in activities helping people who have been impacted by the fire, thought the dance class would help her de-stress.

“I need to move my body,” she said. “I’ve burned out in the last few years and I’m trying to get my mojo back.”

According to Gina Baffo, director of marketing with DADA, Allen has made it part of their mission to offer a multitude of free dance workshops aimed at helping those who are experiencing different traumas.

“This was a natural kind of extension,” Baffo said, with another workshop planned on Sunday, March 23, at the Wallis Performing Arts Center. She said the series is tentatively scheduled to continue into May, but could be extended.

Along with giving private workshops for battered women and their children, and special classes for elderly people with limited movement, Allen said they’ve also done programs for people receiving cancer treatments.

“Those patients come out of that class with a new sense of positive hope and a sense of community because they bonded in that classroom,” she said.

“Dance is, to me, the most original art form,” Allen said. “It’s innate. It is innate for the human race to stamp their feet on the ground, proclaim themselves, to leap in the air … and your physical informs your mental.”

Jarret Liotta is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer and photographer.