Changes at Renea school of dance

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Lindsay Renea (Benton), founder and director of the Lindsay Renea Dance Theatre, has accepted an assistant professor of dance position at Alabama State University.

Renea will not totally cut ties with the dance school that bears her name. She will remain as artistic director.

Handling daily duties will be Savannah Lach, who has been named the administrator of LRDT. Lach is a four-year company member and teaching artist. She recently earned her bachelor’s degree in dance management from Youngstown State University.

Renea will become the first female assistant professor of dance at Alabama State.

“While I will certainly miss the direct day-to-day operations, I am glad that I can provide another means of access and education to our students in the field of dance,” she said in a news release. “I will remain the artistic director and CEO of the Lindsay Renea Foundation/Lindsay Renea Dance Theatre.”

LRDT will mark its fifth anniversary in the spring, and has several events planned.

Lindsay Renea is a world-class performer and choreographer who, upon earning her bachelor of fine arts from Howard University, joined and later became a principal dancer with famed Garth Fagan Dance in New York.

After five years with Fagan, she returned to Youngstown in 2013 and established her school, which provides training in Afro-Caribbean, modern, ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hop and other dance genres to students age 3 and up. She also earned a master’s degree in choreography from Jacksonville University.

For the past 18 months, she has served as interim executive director of Inspiring Minds – Youngstown.

In discussing the transition in leadership, Simon Arias, board president of Inspiring Minds, said, “Lindsay’s impact will outlast her time here. While we’re sad to see her go, we wish her the absolute best in her new career.”