Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker, centered on Debbie Allen and her Los Angeles dance studio as they prepare for their annual holiday show Hot Chocolate Nutcracker, is now available for streaming on Netflix. The documentary film is the first collaboration between Shonda Rhimes-led production company Shondaland and the streamer.
The Fame alum created Debbie Allen Dance Academy, a non-profit that offers dance classes to children four and up, in 2001, and still teaches there.
Allen is a three-time Emmy Award winner and two-time Tony Award nominee, for her performances in revivals of West Side Story and Sweet Charity. After appearing on Broadway in Purlie, Raisin, Truckload, Ain't Misbehavin', and West Side Story, Allen rose to national prominence playing Lydia Grant in the 1980 film Fame, reprising her role in the television series that followed. She returned to Broadway in 1986 leading a revival of Sweet Charity. On the other side of the stage, Allen choreographed the Broadway musical adaptation of Carrie in 1988 and directed a 2008 revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof starring James Earl Jones and sister Phylicia Rashad.
Allen also directed and choreographed Netflix's recently released movie musical Christmas on the Square, featuring original songs by Dolly Parton. The film, featuring Parton, Christine Baranski, and Jenifer Lewis, arrived on Netflix November 22.
