Ariana DeBose  is an actress, singer, and dancer from the United States. She has received numerous awards and nominations, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Chita Rivera Award for Dance and Choreography, and a Tony Award nomination. 

DeBose was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, on January 25, 1991. Gina DeBose, her mother, is an eighth-grade teacher. DeBose studied dance at Raleigh’s CC & Co. Dance Complex. DeBose’s father is Puerto Rican, her mother is Caucasian, and she also has African-American and Italian ancestry, according to her. 

Career Debut 

DeBose made her debut in 2009 when she participated in So You Think You Can Dance and placed in the Top 20. She went on to star in the soap opera One Life to Live and in the North Carolina Theatre’s production of Hairspray as Inez, before playing Nautica in the Alliance Theatre’s production of Bring It On in 2011. She also played a role in the ensemble of the New York Philharmonic’s televised version of Company. Bring It On went on a national tour in the United States at the end of 2011.  

Awards and Accolades 

In the Broadway show, which premiered in April 2018, she repeated her role. She received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 2018. 

DeBose portrayed Alyssa Greene in Ryan Murphy’s cinematic adaption of The Prom. DeBose recorded and filmed a dance-pop version of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Shall We Dance” for the album R&H Goes Pop in March 2021, which was produced by Justin Goldner and arranged by Benjamin Rauhala. DeBose starred as Emma Tate in the Apple TV+ parody musical comedy Schmigadoon! In 2021, for the service, she will also star in the spy flick Argylle.