RALEIGH, N.C. — "West Side Story" star Ariana Debose is making history.
The Raleigh native is nominated for an Academy Award for her role as Anita in Steven Speilberg's "West Side Story" remake, becoming the first openly queer woman of color to be nominate for an Oscar in an acting category.
What You Need To Know
- Ariana Debose was a dancer at CC & Co. Dance Complex in Raleigh
- Debose is nominated for an Oscar for her role as Anita in "West Side Story"
- CC & Co. Dance Complex educates dancers on the different pathways of professional dance
Before making it to the big stage, Debose got her start in Raleigh. Dancing at CC & Co. Dance Complex under Owner Christy Curtis.
Curtis opened her dance complex 17 seasons ago and has had a number of dancers thrive in the professional dance world.
"I was a director of a company here a while back, and I just saw a need that this is a passion that I have to help find dancers find their unique pathways within the industry and wherever they want to go in dance, and that was a passion of mine to connect them with their individual needs ad where they can go successfully," Curtis said.
From ballet to hip-hop, and babies to adults, there is a class for all levels of dancers.
"We really train them to find their unique voices, take classes and promote what they do individually, what they do as a person," Curtis said.
Curtis and her team of 30 instructors often invite in professional dancers, including Debose, to help her dancers learn more about the different pathways of professional dance, including filmmaking and production.
"Anybody that can get them to that next phase of training, we pride ourselves in being able to provide that," Curtis said.
Growing up a dancer, Curtis found her passion through dance and wanted to use her platform to share the power of dance with others.
"Dance is my lifeline, I will say since I was a young kid, everything in my life that happened, whether it was good or bad, dance was always there, and I feel like a lot of my staff now feels like that," Curtis said.
Summer Fare is the core-company and acrobatics director at CC & Co. Dance Complex and also worked with Debose in her early years.
"Ariana is a light and blessing to work with, one word that comes to mind is passion, and that passion has been inside of her since day one and it beams out of her like a light," Fare said.
Fare and her fellow instructors say the community the dancers built at their studio is what sets them apart.
"They all come together from so many different avenues of our area, they all come together and put one solidified thing together on stage, and it's a true joy to watch," Fare said.
If Debose wins the Oscar, she and Rita Moreno will become the first pair of actresses to win the same award for playing the same role in different versions of the same movie.