Artistic director Deborah Vaughan crafts diverse performances that bring people together. During the Black Arts movement in the 60s and 70s, she harnessed that power to bring something new to her native Oakland. 'I think that art has power,' said Vaughn. 'We need art. It changes people's minds, people's hearts. People think differently when you're involved in the arts.
In addition to the dance company, Dimensions Dance Theater teaches several hundred young people a year in its Rites of Passage program from ballet and tap to jazz and hip hop. Students aged 8 to 18 get free instruction in Oakland public schools or low-cost after-school classes at the nonprofit's dance studio at the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts. There's also a youth ensemble for 12- to 19-year-olds and a paid internship or apprenticeship for those pursuing an arts career.