As Maguette Camara seamlessly shifts between the front of the studio and to play drums that are clustered on the side, it's hard to tell where the musician leaves off and the dancer begins. He's instructing an advanced-beginner level West African class at The Ailey School in New York, and the intricate rhythms are proving challenging to the students - 30 pre-professional men and women.
A year ago, the renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was forced to cancel a performance in Baltimore because of unrest. The company makes an emotional return to The Lyric for two nights starting Tuesday.
More than 30 Baltimore public school students leapt into their dancing dreams Monday during a modern dance master class taught by professionals from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Alvin Ailey dancers Jacqueline Green - also a Baltimore School for the Arts alumni - and Bowie native Daniel Harder, who perform Tuesday and Wednesday at the Modell Performing Arts Center at The Lyric, taught modern dance techniques to the students in a Lyric dance studio.
It was a dream, come true. Baltimore School for the Arts graduate Jacqueline Green would be returning to her native town to dance with the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater.
Brotherhood. That's a word glaringly absent from public mood and discourse. But brotherhood is integral to the work of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and the company has the idea front and center in two pieces that were presented Thursday through Sunday at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa.
You probably danced on your way into work this morning. Every move you made, down to the rhythm of your steps, had a potential story to tell.
From battling scoliosis at an early age to touring the world with one of the country's premier dance troupes, Samantha Barriento never felt out of tune with her passion for dance. "There is never a day that I question whether or not this was a good decision," Barriento told NBC News.
Whatever you may say about Robert Battle's new "Awakening," you can be sure that it resembles little else in the repertoire of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which opened its annual Berkeley residency Tuesday, March 29, at UC's Zellerbach Hall. That is the first dance Battle has made for the company since he became artistic director five years ago may have something to do with it.
For more than 40 years, Ailey II, the junior ensemble of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, has thrilled audiences with its performances. The company travels for most of the year, but comes back to New York City for its two week season every spring.
It's no secret that Ailey II, the Alvin Ailey American Repertory Ensemble, is a launch pad for exciting young dancers and choreographer who are dance's next generation. The company's two-week season, beginning March 30 at the Ailey CitiGroup Theatre, spotlights 12 talented performers in a mix of modern masterpieces, returning favorites and premieres...