Biography
CHARLES AUGINS: Chair of the Dance Department, winner of the Olivier Award, the NAACP Award and L.A. Theatre Ovation Award for Best choreographer. He served as the school’s first Director of Dance from 1974-1976, during which time he made cultural trips to the Bolshoi and Kirov Ballet Schools in Russia. Originally from Virginia, Charles studied with the Arlington Recreation Department and the Jones Haywood School of Ballet in Washington, DC and has worked with every major black choreographer in the states. His work includes: the Broadway production of “Guys and Dolls” and “Let My People Come;” the London production for “Bubbling Brown Sugar,” “Kiss Me Kate” at the Old Vic in Bristol; “Snapshot” at the Edinburgh Festival, Porgy and Bess at Glynborne and the Royal Opera House in London. His television work includes the Emmy Award winning children’s show “Zoom,” and numerous programs in England, most notably as Mr. A on the “Russell Harty Show” for the BBC, the same television network that produced the documentary on Augins “What’s That Noise”? He was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for his choreography on the U.S. production of “The Fix,” directed by Eric Schaffer at the Signature Theatre. In 2008, Mr. Augins received the African Heritage Dancers and Drummers Award for his contribution to the arts in the D.C. area and internationally. Charles received the “Teacher of the Year” award from the National Network Organization of Arts Schools in the USA in 2011, and the IABD award for Dance Educator of the Year in 2013. In 2016, the Halls Hill/High School View Park Historic Preservation Coalition presented Mr. Augins with the “Living Legend Award for the Performing Arts” in celebration of its 150 Anniversary. Mr. Augins is also the first recipient of the first Duke Ellington alumni 2019 “Creed Award” presented on the first Founders Day Event.