Deborah Manning St. Charles

Deborah Manning St. Charles, a proud Philadelphian, is a former Philadanco Company member, who later became a Principal Soloist with the famed Alvin Ailey Company in New York. She imbued her roles with delicacy and tremendous commitment such that one could never forget when you saw her in one of her signature roles. After performing all over the world and in the most famous theaters for 13 years, Ms. Manning, and her late husband David St. Charles, who was also a spectacular Philadanco and Ailey dancer, decided to return to Philadelphia. Deborah has been sharing her deep knowledge of the field of dance with students ever since. We, at the Performance Garage, are fortunate to have her as our lead master teacher where she conducts approximately 35 classes over 35 weeks at our partner public school, the Franklin Learning Center, in our signature YouthMoves program.

In describing the FLC dancers, Dana Williams, the Dance Department Director and our partner in the FLC Dance Program, explains how YouthMoves provides foundational support to its participants. “The vast majority of our students are female, either coming from an African-American, Latino, or immigrant backgrounds; some are undocumented residents; many of their families are not college educated and low income; many are also beginning to identify themselves as members of the LGBTQ population. YouthMoves, as facilitated through Jeanne Ruddy’s Performance Garage, provides an additional level of training, to ensure the technical clarity that is needed to develop a stronger, more experienced dancer who is better prepared for the professional dance world. Ms. Manning has instilled more discipline, self-confidence, and a platform to develop the students’ self-expression and creative voice. These experiences, classes, choreography, and performances with seasoned professionals provide an avenue for students to have exposure to the realities of the professional dance world. As our students attest, ‘we learn more about the dance other than just dancing.’” 

We know that students gain much more than dance technique from the disciplined and inspired classes provided by Ms. Manning through our YouthMoves Program. “In addition to their physical training through the classes of YouthMoves,” says Williams, “Students at FLC also have other opportunities to learn and synthesize the process of creation, choreography, production, and presentation through the Performance Garage’s DanceVisions program.”

We are grateful to our supporters who make this possible: The Philadelphia Cultural Fund, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Louis N. Cassett Foundation, Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation, and our individual donors.