The Ailey School

Shomari Savannah (Burtonsville, Maryland) began his dance training under the direction of Monica Harris and went on to train at the Dance Institute of Washington. He is a graduate of the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA where he earned a BFA in Dance. As a scholarship recipient, Shomari attended summer intensives at the Rock School for Dance Education, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and most at The Ailey School from 2013 – 2016 in both the Scholarship and Independent Study Programs. Shomari has been a recipient of the Nadia Chilkovsky Founders Award and the Pennsylvania Ballet’s Choreographic Award, choreographing for Pennsylvania Ballet’s second company in 2015. He has performed works by a range of choreographers including Alvin Ailey, William Forsythe, Alonzo King, Ray Mercer, Matthew Rushing, Zane Booker, and Meredith Rainey. While at The Ailey School, Shomari performed Memoria by Alvin Ailey with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 2014. From 2014-16 he performed numerous ballets by established and emerging choreographers as a member of the Ailey Student Performance Group. He has also danced with DBDT: Encore, the second company of Dallas Black Dance Theater, and with the Dallas Opera. In 2015, Shomari joined the Teaching Artist roster of Ailey’s Arts In Education & Community Programs.