Alice Allen Memorial Service Performers
The Alice Allen Scholarship Fund for the Arts and Alice's family would like to thank everyone who performed at the memorial service. It was a great honor to have you grace the guest with your artistic abilities. More importantly, it was wonderful to see the ways in which Alice's influences impacted the person you have become as an artist.
Giovanni Allen
Giovanni Allen is Alice Allen's grandson and the Vice President of the Alice Allen Scholarship Fund for the Arts. Giovanni began studying the arts at the tender age of five years old. Initially placed in percussion with dance intended as a secondary class, Giovanni's natural attraction to dance became evident to his teachers and grandmother. Giovanni went on to attend an arts-based high school, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theater, CalArts, and Joffrey Ballet Summer School Intensive. In 2008, he was invited to choreograph at the Barcelona International course of dance in Spain, as well as the Greece Dance Festival. He has worked with artists such as; Rodolfo Castellanos, Jean Emile, Juan Borona, and Roger Jeffrey. He is now a dance director of Groundworks 7 Dance Company.
sandra segura
Sandra Segura was a student of Harlem School of the Arts when she and her mom met Alice. Sandra quickly found herself developing a bond and relationship with Alice that transitioned into each of them claiming to be Godmother and Goddaughter. Sandra attended Alvin Ailey, Alonzo King Line's Ballet Summer Intensive, Martha Graham School, the famed LaGuardia High School and went on to attend Howard University (HU). After graduating from HU, she worked at BET, HBO, NBC, and MTV as a freelance production assistant.
Cain Coleman
Cain met Alice years ago when he developed a collegial relationship with Charisma, her adopted Granddaughter. Cain viewed Alice as an encourager and supporter of his artistry. He is a co-founder of the ColemanCollective. ColemanCollective is a multidisciplinary performing arts company, founded by Cain A. Coleman, Charisma Glasper and Matthew Perez, which aims to bring together artists as equal collaborators to produce art in various forms. This group features choreographers, dancers, actors, writers, visual artists, directors, musicians, and other performers who seek to share and create with artists of diverse cultures and disciplines, through PERFORMANCE, EDUCATION and COLLABORATION. The artistic direction is suggested by Coleman and Perez, while the collaborators they bring on, inevitably bend that vision, to create something completely original and unexpected. The effort to work towards a mutual understanding and learn through collaboration is what fuels the collective.
Charisma glasper
Charisma Glasper is Alice Allen's adopted granddaughter. While Charisma attended Harlem School of the Arts, she met Alice Allen. Over time, Alice became Charisma's advocate and confidant. Eventually, Charisma began living with Alice and stayed with her until she completed her Bachelor's in Fine Arts at Purchase Conservatory of Dance. She attended Professional Performing Arts high-school and trained during the summers at Joffrey Ballet. Since graduating, Charisma modeled as a dancer in Vogue Italia and was a muse and model for Marc Jacobs hybrid watch collection launch, appearing on websites and billboards in Tokyo, Japan and Melrose Ave in California. She posed alongside her fellow ColemanCollective directors for Elle USA Magazine January 2017 issue featuring emerging New York City Art Companies. While pursuing her passions in the arts, Charisma teaches children’s ballet classes at Brooklyn College Prep Center.
Clarisa Sinceno
Clarissa vividly remembers her time with Alice at Harlem School of the Arts while Clarissa was a student and later when she returned to enroll her two children into the school. Clarissa credits Alice with caring for her and later watching over and developing a bond with her children. Clarissa Sinceno, a Harlem native was inspired by Jessye Norman, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and Mahalia Jackson. She began formal voice training and the study of classical music at the Harlem School of the Arts under the tutelage of Athena Lampropoulous, Frederick Gamble and Betty Allen. To further her education, she studied Classical Music at the North Carolina School of the Arts & Manhattan School of Music. At age 17, Clarissa performed at the Metropolitan Opera. Singing at jazz clubs such as the Blue Note, Birdland, and the Sugar Bar has expanded Clarissa’s repertoire. In 1995, Clarissa toured Japan with the Yusuke Hirado Trio, receiving great reviews from the Japanese press. In 2000, she toured North and South Korea with the Ebony Ecumenical Ensemble under the direction of Bettye F. Forbes. In 2007 she launched CSong Inc. Productions and now has broaden the company with CSong Inc. Marketing. Clarissa is currently performing live with her band aah fro blú and is having the time of her life singing every genre of music under the sun.
Maleek Washington
Maleek developed a strong and long-lasting relationship with Alice Allen, while he was a student at Harlem School of the Arts. He believes that it takes the efforts of many to raise a productive and confident child and he credits Alice as being a vital member of the village of elders who raised him. Maleek also trained at Broadway Dance Center and LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts. He attended the Boston Conservatory on a full scholarship before beginning his professional career with Citydance Ensemble (Washington, DC). While there, he worked with Paul Taylor, Kate Weare, and Alex Noeral, and as a Springboard Danse Montreal Participant, Maleek also worked with Jose Navas & Rubberband. Upon his return to New York City, Washington collaborated with McArthur genius awardee, Kyle Abraham, and his company Abraham.In.Motion for four seasons before becoming the first African-American male to perform in the critically acclaimed immersive show Punchdrunk's Sleep No More. He has also performed for musical sensations, such as Sia, Phish & Rhiana for her immersive ANTIdiaRY Campaign.
Parris Lewis
Parris met Alice Allen while she was a student of vocal arts at Harlem School of the Arts. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Parris Mone't Lewis began her years of performance and study at Ronald Edmonds Learning Center, Talent Unlimited High School for the Performing Arts and performed with the Songs of Solomon Inspirational Ensemble. Later she earned a Bachelor’s of Music Education K-12 from Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida. Miss Lewis has had opportunities to perform with organizations such as The Bronx Opera, The Martina Arroyo Foundation, Carnegie Hall, The Grady-Rayam Foundation, The American Heart Association, The National Endowment of the Arts, The United Negro College Fund, New York Fashion Week and for audiences as far as Colombia, South America and Cuba. While exploring songwriting, Ms. Lewis also currently performs with The New York Choral Society, ColemanCollective and works as a Teaching Artist for The Leadership Program and the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall.
Terrence Diable
Terrence met Alice Allen when he was a young student at Harlem School of the Arts. Terrence was a regular member of her holiday celebrations at her house and became a solid member of her extended family. Terrence Donzell Mitchell Diable (New York, NY) began his dance training at age ten with tap at the Harlem School of the Arts (HSA). In the summer of 2009 he found his new home at The Ailey School where he was awarded the Alvin Ailey Athletic Boy’s Scholarship. He attended both the Junior Division and Professional Division as a Scholarship student and graduated from the Ailey/Fordham BFA program on 2015. Diable has performed works choreographed by Paul Taylor, David Parsons, Martha Graham, Robert Battle, Aszure Barton, Matthew Rushing, Ohad Naharin and Fernando Melo . In 2011, Mr. Diable joined the Francesca Harper Project and in 2012 he collaborated with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Following that he danced for The Steps Repertory Ensemble under the artistic direction of Bradley Shelver. Diable has most recently been assistant to Matthew Rushing on his commission of ODETTA for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. As well an original cast member of Robert Battle's Awakening. He is currently a member of the Limon Dance Company.