"In July 2008, I suffered what I thought was a career-ending injury - a cartilage tear in my knee," says Alicia, who's danced with Alcin Ailey since 2005. "I was devastated. But my mom reassured me that whether or not I came back as a dancer, anything I decided to do next would be brilliant."
Iconic dancer/choreographer Judith Jamison, a Philadelphia native and the former artistic director of the internationally acclaimed Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is one of four renowned leaders and achievers being honored for their lifetime accomplishments with the 33rd annual Common Wealth Awards of Distinguished Service.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, touring for the first time under new artistic director Robert Battle, delivered a heady, reverberating concoction of pieces - including the company premiere of Paul Taylor's Baroque pure-dance classic "Arden Court" (1981) and the California premiere of hip-hop choreographer Rennie Harris' "Home" (2011).
New beginnings often contain built-in excitement, but there was an extra note of promise in the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's program Tuesday night at the Kennedy Center Opera House.
William C. Rhoden discusses dance as an athletic endeavor with Alicia graf Mack, a dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
One of Robert Battle's first dance memories involves moving to the song That's Entertainment. Little did he know how prophetic that title was.
Sizzling physicality and technical prowess have always been attractive hallmarks of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, but when the New York-based company returns Thursday to the Sony Centre you may be surprised by what's changed since its last visit in 2008.
Dance seems to have always been a part of Judith Jamison's road in life. Growing up, she trained early in dance and music and attended the Philadelphia Dance Academy. In 1964, she started performing with the American Ballet Theatre.
When Alicia Graf Mack left Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 2008, it seemed that her dancing career was finished - among other things, she suffers from an autoimmune disorder classified as reactive arthritis, which, at the time, led to swelling and pain in her joints.
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's second program in the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Theatre featured classics from the company's repertoire. The program began with "Streams," a work choreographed in 1970 by Ailey and restaged by associate artistic director Masazumi Chaya.