The Ailey School

Rebekka Nodhturft earned her BA degree Magna cum Laude from Boston University where she majored in International Relations and minored in biology and psychology. She also trained at The Ailey School, Orlando Ballet School, and Broadway Dance Center. She is Artistic Director of Awaken Dance Theater, which she founded in 2014 with a mission to explore deep social and political issues through dance.  Topics range from racism and interracial relationships to overuse of technology to climate change.  

Rebekka has performed with Jazz Roots Dance, founded in 2009 and directed by Sue Samuels, with Keen Dance Theater (KDT), a contemporary company under the direction of John Keen, and with Momentum Dance Theater in Washington, D.C.   She has also performed at the world-renowned Cotton Club, where she tapped with Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards and her line of 'Sophisticated Ladies’.  She directs a competition team in Orange County, NY and teaches ballet, tap, and jazz at several studios throughout the New York tri-state area.