Courtney Celeste Spears, recipient of the 2015 Princess Grace Award and dancer with Ailey II, sits down with Chris Glorioso to discuss the upcoming Ailey II dance programs, "All New" and "Returning Favorites," for the 2016 season.
La talentosa bailarina Samantha Barriento regresa a Nueva York.
A crowd filled the little steps of City Hall Wednesday morning for the historic marker dedication for legendary hometown dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey. Rogers Mayor Tammy Cockrum, who emceed the event, said she was not only impressed by the town's response with more than 50 residents and almost 150 students in attendance, but also from people who traveled to Rogers from across Central Texas and even as far as Houston.
Courtney Celeste Spears stepped out of the Fordham classroom this fall and onto a world stage as a member of Ailey II, the highly selective junior company of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Spears, a senior in the Ailey/Fordham BFA program in dance at Lincoln Center, recently completed her final Fordham class toward a minor in communications and media studies.
Hot on the heels of Phildanco's performance last month at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture, the venue opens its doors to another dance force not seen here in several years. Tonight, the Pittsburgh Dance Council will present Ailey II, the junior company of New York City's prestigious Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
Young dancers are carrying forward the legacy of iconic American choreographer Alvin Ailey, who died in 1989. He founded Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1958 and, two years later, created his most celebrated work — “Revelations,” an exploration of the grief and “holiest joy” of the African-American experience performed to spirituals, gospel and holy blues.
Courtney Celeste Spears - Audra Danielle Noyes is a young designer, having made her way nearly straight from her studies at Savannah College of Art and Design to Paris, where she cut her teeth at Lanvin and John Galliano. And so her Spring précis was one no doubt informed by her own experiences, which delved deeply into the metamorphosis of a young woman.
She started dancing at the age of three and that was only because her mother went to a Target store and picked out a ballet outfit just to see how her toddler would look in it. For Courtney Celeste Spears, it's like she never took off the leotard.
Courtney Celeste Spears - Every year, the Princess Grace Foundation honors a few lucky members of the arts community. Getting a Princess Grace Award (which comes with a generous grant) is like joining one of the most elite clubs around—a club that includes David Hallberg, Tiler Peck, Mike Minery, Gillian Murphy, Kyle Abraham, Drew Jacoby and Isabella Bolyston.