Brandye Lee

Ailey II
Collage Dance Collective

Photo via Collage Dance Collective, uncredited.
Brandye Lee, from Washington DC, trained as a scholarship student at the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet and attended the Sidwell Friends School. She has additionally been awarded scholarships from The Ailey School, Dance Theatre of Harlem school, and the Ecole Supérieure de Danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower. After earning her BA with honors in Afro-American studies and economics at Smith College, Lee danced with Ailey II. In 2011, she joined Collage Dance Collective and has performed as a featured dancer with the touring company of Disney’s The Lion King.
Lee is the recipient of The Woman of Excellence Award from Asbury United Methodist Church (Washington DC) and The Outstanding Emerging Artist Award from Federal City Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She was also a New Memphis Institute Fellow.
Lee enjoys a career in dance instruction and administration—she has taught at AileyCamp, Dance Institute of Washington, Dance Theatre of Lynchburg, DC Capital Stars Gala competition, Fisk University, Flint Institute of Music, George Mason University, Marymount University, and Rhodes College.
For Collage Dance Collective, she has worked as their outreach coordinator and rehearsal director. Lee is a certified yoga instructor and was the co-founder of B2 Movement for Change LLC.
Lee was featured in a photo that went viral on social media in 2017 alongside Daphne Lee, Kimberley Ho-Tsai, Nikki Taylor, and Luisa Cardoso.
The Memphis Daily News has declared Lee “Memphis dance royalty.”

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