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Entrepreneur of the Month

Each month, the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute will recognize an entrepreur from the Temple community, from the Philadelphia region, or from the annals of business history.  Their stories provide valuable insight into the entrepreneurial mindset, and about what it takes to succeed with new ventures.

Rebecca Davis

The Rebecca Davis Dance Company

Dance Entrepreneur and Temple Fox Alumna, Rebecca Davis, Returns to Philadelphia Rebecca Davis and Morris Hughes, U.S. Consulate General in Saint Petersburg


Rebecca Davis, 23 year-old American Fulbright Scholar, is returning from Russia with big plans for the City of Philadelphia. After training as a ballet dancer and choreographer in Saint Petersburg, she is ready to choreograph modern ballets that will make Philly famous. Just how is she planning on doing this? By combining her dance training, business skills, and experiences from Russia.


Just one year after graduating with honors from Temple University’s Fox School of Business, Davis has incorporated The Rebecca Davis Dance Company and filed for non-profit status. The company combines a professional dance-theater troupe with a pre-professional training program for 12-to-18 year olds in the City of Philadelphia. Its performances are modern-ballet productions based on famous literary works and significant historical events.


The first project of The Rebecca Davis Dance Company will be Antigone, a modern ballet that combines text, music, speech, and movement. The ballet, a contemporary version of Sophocles play, tells the story of a young girl’s struggle to do what is right when the law forbids it. Davis began working on a Russian variant of this ballet at The Mussorgsky Theater in Russia. Timofey Buzina, one of the youngest professional composers in Russia, is creating the original score for the American version. Davis is planning to premiere the ballet in Philadelphia in March 2006.


“I really want to see the cultural landscape of Philadelphia change for the better,” Davis says, “and that’ s going to require vision, commitment, and perseverance.” Rebecca Davis


Davis came to Philadelphia from Toronto when she transferred to Temple University. She explains, “Temple, and particularly Philadelphia, was a good fit for me because it’s not as competitive as New York, yet large enough for me to gain important business contacts and experience.”


In 2004 when she was a student at The Fox School, Davis won Temple’s Business Plan Competition, sponsored by the university’s Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute (IEI). Winning helped Davis launch her business.


“One of the main reasons I transferred to Temple was its IEI. I knew I wanted to be immersed in an academic environment that facilitated entrepreneurial thinking.”


Executive Director of Temple’s IEI, Chris Pavlides, is proud of Rebecca’s accomplishments. He explains, “She exemplifies that entrepreneurship can come in any field of study or endeavor, including the arts and non-profit sector." Now Rebecca continues her connection with Temple and IEI. As she charges ahead her business is incubated at Temple’s Small Business Development Center.

Read Rebecca's Biography