When you hear the name Debbie Allen, the words legend or iconic follow closely behind. She’s been dancing in our hearts since “Fame,” directing some of the most beloved TV moments of the past four decades, and pushing young artists toward excellence through her namesake dance academy. And now, Mattel’s latest Tribute Collection Barbie honors Allen, the dancer, the director, the dreamer, and the living legend whose story children can now quite literally hold in their hands.
And though she has received the Kennedy Center Honors, the Emmys’ Governors Award, and countless other accolades, Allen says this one hits differently.
“Just getting a Barbie was everything,” she told theGrio smiling. “I mean, I’ve gotten a lot of things and a lot of really wonderful accolades for work, but becoming Barbie was really very special and different from all of these things. I was so excited!”
The doll’s look pays homage to Allen’s iconic look from Fame, where she played the formidable choreographer Lydia Grant, the role that made her the first Black woman to win a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a television comedy or musical. Sporting a shimmery, off-shoulder top cinched at the waist with a gold belt, purple fringe pants, and leg warmers, the doll embodies the nostalgia of the 80s. However, when Allen looks at her Barbie, she sees the many versions of herself reflected.
“Oh, my goodness, I see that Debbie on Fame, that’s for sure. Who traveled the world with a show called Fame that really used the arts as a diplomatic ambassador to help uplift and inspire the world,” she shared. “[Who was at] the height of her dancing [career]. That Debbie who ran off to do Sweet Charity with Bob Fosse. That Debbie, who started directing all the shows all over television. And the Debbie that became a mom for the first time with Vivian. That’s what I see when I look at my Barbie that I love so much.”
However, the tribute doll transcends the celebration of her career. It’s a mirror for the next generation.
“It’s wonderful for children to see that image of themselves in me,” she said. And for any child I work with, whether they’re Black, Latin, white, or Asian, for them to be able to touch someone and then see their Barbie, that’s a big deal.”
And her family is just as thrilled. Her grandchildren, she said, are “over the moon” about the doll, though she’s holding onto their boxes until Christmas.
That sense of nurturing the next generation runs deep in Allen’s work. Through the Debbie Allen Dance Academy and the Debbie Allen Middle School, she’s created spaces where young people can access the arts, dream big, and move purposefully. She beams with pride when she talks about community initiatives like her annual block party in Los Angeles, hosted by Councilwoman Heather Hutt and the City, which brings thousands together for free dance classes, rides, and celebrations.
“These things are just bigger than me personally,” she reflected. “For me, it is a mission of purpose and [is] very targeted and focused, to give young people a real glimmer and a path of light, because that is something that we don’t have enough of. Right now. There’s just so much arguing and fighting and blaming all over the place, and at some point we need leadership that speaks of the positive part of the world that looks up in the sky, that sees the sun rise every day and set that, you know, gives homage to something more or greater than themselves. Personally, that keeps me going.”
Since she was a young girl, Allen recalls being passionate about using her creative outlets to inspire and uplift others, a mission that has guided her through every season of her life. And now, even with decades of success and accolades, the multi-disciplinary icon admits she has no plans of slowing down: “I honestly feel like I have to keep going because I don’t know anybody [who] quite does all the things that I do. Where I’m sitting right now, and the amount of people that I can pull forward with me. The millions of children that I can pull forward with me, that is a real purpose in my life.”
When thinking back to “Little Debbie” in Houston, Texas, who once played with Barbies before paving her own unique path to the top, Allen says she would whisper to her “keep going, stay curious the way you are right now, and never be afraid, and just know that your name is already written on that lit path where you going to go so child, Put on your dancing shoes and kickball change up the lane.”
Just as her character, Lydia Grant, famously asked, “You want fame? You got big dream?” during her inspirational “Fame” speech, Allen hopes her tribute doll inspires young people to see “that their greatest gift to the world is sharing their own unique talents.”
The Barbie Debbie Allen Tribute Doll ($43.20) is available now at Mattel Shop, Amazon, and other retailers.
