SUPPORTING OUR LEGACY | COMMUNITY | WHERE ARE THEY NOW
Anthony Burrell, the Blossom Sisters Foundation & Blossom Dance Studio
In 2013, a South Philly kid turned Alvin Ailey and Beyoncé choreographer came home to New Jersey to teach a free community master class. A decade later, Anthony Burrell is an award-winning creative director shaping the next generation — proof of what happens when the industry gives back.
By Dance Mogul Magazine | Originally featured October 2013 | Updated and expanded 2026
Anthony Burrell at the Blossom Sisters Foundation community workshop | Dance Mogul Magazine Archives
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT — 2026
Anthony Burrell is an award-winning choreographer, creative director, and educator. He won an MTV Video Music Award for his choreography on Beyoncé's "Formation" and was part of the Lemonade creative team that earned a Peabody Award. Today he is the founder and artistic director of the Anthony Burrell Center for Dance in Atlanta and an associate professor at Boston Conservatory at Berklee — still doing exactly what he did in 2013: opening doors for the next generation.
In October 2013, Dance Mogul Magazine was invited to cover a community workshop hosted by the Blossom Sisters Foundation and Blossom Dance Studio in New Jersey. The draw was a master class led by Anthony Burrell — a South Philadelphia native who had already danced with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and choreographed for the biggest names in music. When opportunity knocks, especially in New Jersey, it matters that we rally behind the people on the front line providing arts and education for our youth.
More than a decade later, that story has only grown more meaningful. Burrell has since become one of the most decorated choreographers of his generation and the founder of his own dance center devoted to the very thing he modeled that day: giving young people access. Below is our original 2013 feature, preserved in full, followed by where Anthony Burrell's journey has taken him since.
The Original Feature — Dance Mogul Magazine (2013)
Special thanks to the Blossom Sisters Foundation and Blossom Dance Studio for holding a great community workshop and inviting Dance Mogul Magazine to come cover history for their organization. When opportunity knocks, especially in New Jersey, it is important that we rally behind those in the community on the front line providing arts and education for our youth. The Blossom Sisters Foundation is an organization started in 2008 by two sisters — Tanya and Shama Elliot — dedicated to building and enabling communities to experience the arts when they are otherwise not able to afford it.
The founders of the Blossom Sisters Foundation with Anthony Burrell
“I grew up in South Philly. To me, that's as hood as it gets. I didn't have some of the opportunities that kids have today. So every chance I get, I'm always willing to serve as an example that with discipline, dedication, and determination, success can be attained in whatever it is you choose to do.” — Anthony Burrell
A native of Philadelphia, Anthony Burrell began teaching and choreographing at age 14 as a student at Point Breeze Performing Arts Center. Anthony's extraordinary talent was evident even then, earning him an emerging choreographer award and later resulting in his appointment as resident choreographer for the school. Anthony attended Franklin Learning Center, where he studied with Horton master Faye Snow. While in high school, he danced professionally with Eleone, KTM Extreme, Danco 2 (the second company of Philadanco), Koresh, and Prism, in addition to studying at the Pennsylvania Ballet and the National School of Ballet in Lima, Peru.
Before entering college, Anthony was a two-time local gold medalist and the 1998 national gold medalist for the NAACP ACT-SO competition in the category of dance, as well as a guest artist with the Bermuda Dance Company. During his freshman year at The University of the Arts, where he attended on a Promising Artist scholarship, Anthony was hand-selected by Judith Jamison to join Ailey II, the second company of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater — resulting in him leaving the university. During his time with Ailey II, Anthony taught master classes at universities and other dance institutions across the country.
Anthony taking the time to educate the kids who attended his master class
After a year with Ailey II, he joined Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and began touring nationally and internationally with the company for five years. During his time with the Ailey company, he set choreography on Ailey members and was described by reviewer Jennifer Dunning as a "choreographer to watch." After achieving his lifelong dream of dancing with Alvin Ailey, Anthony went on to experience commercial success in Los Angeles as a dancer and choreographer in the music industry, appearing in countless television programs and music videos, including Good Morning America and The Oprah Winfrey Show.
He became a dancer, choreographer, and dance captain for the industry's top artists, including Beyoncé, Destiny's Child, Rihanna, Katy Perry, Mary J. Blige, Kelly Rowland, and Brandy. He was also featured as a dancer on DVD recordings such as Jay-Z's Fade to Black, Destiny's Child's Live in Atlanta, and Beyoncé's Live at Wembley. Anthony was dance captain and assistant choreographer on "The Beyoncé Experience" world tour. He decided to take on acting, and within his first month of training he was scouted by Hi-Hat to be the featured actor for Mary J. Blige's Heart of the City tour, later touring with her a second time on the Music Saved My Life tour.
Completing the tour, he went back to perform with the Ailey company for two more seasons. After his departure from the Ailey company, he was featured on "So You Think You Can Dance" in the top 24. On the show, he was noted by judges as "exquisite" and "the best dancer in New York." He later starred as "Hank" in Twyla Tharp's Broadway musical on the first national tour of "Come Fly Away" (CFA); during the rehearsal period for CFA he co-starred in his first film, The Skinny, as "Kyle," directed by Patrick-Ian Polk. He also co-starred as "Dallas" on GLEE and can be seen on "Dance Moms" and "Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition."
Anthony was full of encouragement from the time he arrived until the time he left.
“We chose Anthony for our kids because his resume speaks for itself. It's important, when people spend their hard-earned money on dance, that their kids get a high-quality workshop. Who better to help the next generation than someone that is actually working in the industry and can tell them all about it?” — Shama Elliot
"With the arts being taken out of the school systems and rising prices in NYC, it's important that the NJ community recognize and take advantage of programs that are providing free or low-cost services. I wish I had this when I was growing up." — Tanya Elliot
Where Is Anthony Burrell Now?
The Anthony Burrell who taught that free master class in New Jersey went on to become one of the defining commercial choreographers of the last decade. He was part of the creative team behind Beyoncé's Lemonade, work that helped earn both an MTV Video Music Award and a Peabody Award, and he won the VMA for Best Choreography for his work on "Formation." He contributed to Beyoncé's Super Bowl 50 halftime show — one of the most-watched live performances in the world — and continued the long collaboration with the artist he had already been working with when Dance Mogul met him in 2013.
Beyond Beyoncé, Burrell became the creative director for Mariah Carey, shaping her Las Vegas residency "#1 to Infinity," her Sweet Sweet Fantasy world tour, and her holiday productions. His film and television credits expanded to include the 2023 adaptation of The Color Purple, Haunted Mansion, and Marvel's Hawkeye. In 2024 he served as creative director for the Queens of R&B Tour featuring SWV and Xscape, leading choreography, staging, and visual storytelling for a national run.
“A guidance counselor recommended me to go into a summer community center… and that's where I found my life, my love, my passion.” — Anthony Burrell, on why he built a dance center of his own
Most tellingly, Burrell turned his own story into an institution. He founded the Anthony Burrell Center for Dance in the Inman Park area of Atlanta — a training and mentorship hub focused on both classical and commercial technique, artist development, and community engagement, complete with a summer intensive called Breaking Barriers that has run for roughly a decade. He also became a founding full-time faculty member of the commercial dance program at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where he now serves as an associate professor. The kid from South Philly who wished he'd had more opportunities as a child has spent his career building those opportunities for everyone who came after him. The 2013 master class wasn't a one-off; it was a preview of a life's mission.
Why It Matters to Dance Mogul Magazine
Dance Mogul Magazine covered the Blossom Sisters Foundation workshop in 2013 for the same reason we cover everything: because empowerment happens on the ground, in community centers and studios, long before it happens on the world stage. The Elliot sisters built a foundation to make the arts affordable for kids who couldn't otherwise reach them. Anthony Burrell showed up to prove that the distance from a South Philly rec center to the Super Bowl stage is real — and walkable, with discipline, dedication, and determination.
That is the heartbeat of this publication. When a working professional gives their time to young dancers who look like them and come from where they came from, the whole culture moves forward. Explore more of these stories across our Dance Styles Hub, our Exclusive Interviews, and our ongoing coverage of the dance industry and the people building it from the community up.
EXPLORE MORE
Discover the full range of dance legends and community builders covered by Dance Mogul Magazine. Visit our Dance Styles Hub to explore every style, browse The Legacy, and read our Exclusive Interviews for more conversations with the greats.
The Story Continues
When Dance Mogul Magazine documented that community workshop in 2013, we were watching two missions meet: a grassroots foundation making the arts accessible, and a rising star determined to give back. Neither knew then just how far Anthony Burrell's career would climb — but both understood that the point was never the fame. The point was the kid in the back of the room who suddenly believed it was possible.
The Blossom Sisters Foundation planted seeds in New Jersey. Anthony Burrell has spent the years since planting them everywhere he goes — in Atlanta, in Boston, and on every stage he touches. Dance Mogul Magazine will keep telling these stories, because the front line of dance culture has always been the community, and the people who serve it deserve to be honored.
Anthony Burrell Blossom Sisters Foundation Blossom Dance Studio Alvin Ailey Beyoncé Choreography New Jersey Dance Community Arts Anthony Burrell Center for Dance Where Are They Now
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