It’s Monday night, and the studio at Alvin Ailey in Hell’s Kitchen is bumping. A Missy Elliott song blares from the speakers as 30 hip-hop enthusiasts — ranging from 20-somethings to unassuming moms — high-step, glide and crisscross their arms. But the most enthusiastic booty-shakers are Joseph Laino and George Junco, two middle-aged psychotherapists having the time of their lives.
Since 2005, home for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Foundation has been a sleek, glass-enclosed building on the northwest corner of West 55th Street and Ninth Avenue in Manhattan known as the Joan Weill Center for Dance.
Alvin Ailey Dance Theater already has deep roots in Atlanta. It has been touring through the city for more than 40 years and hosts a summer camp for underserved youth through the Atlanta Ballet. But Ailey is about to become even more ingrained in Atlanta’s art community through an initiative called Destination Dance.
The Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation is raising the roof: It held a ceremonial "roof-breaking" performance on Tuesday to celebrate the beginning of a $25 million construction project that will add three more stories of studios, classrooms and offices to its Manhattan home.
Work begins this week on a $25 million expansion to the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation's home in Midtown West. Ailey company dancers and students marked the occasion with a performance that included excerpts from the choreographer's signature work, "Revelations."
When Alvin Ailey founded his modern dance company in 1958, with the idea of reflecting the African American experience on stage, he could never had imagined that it would become one of his country's pre-eminent cultural exports. And it is international tours, such as the one that was launched in London on Tuesday, that have helped to set the seal on the troupe's amazing success.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater are back in the UK for the first time in six years, including two shows at the Royal Concert Hall. Kelly Apter speaks to dancer Linda Celeste Sims.
What does it mean to be an American woman in 2016? Each of the women on the net 50 pages has her own glorious, gutsy, utterly unique answer. And they'll define themselves, thanks.
Thursday, Aug. 11, more than 100 youngsters will take the stage at Hostos Center for Arts & Culture for a festive performance that caps their six-week summer at CAS/AileyCamp New York. They will showcase skills nurtured by the innovative program that combines dance and classes in creative communication and personal development to give kids ages 11 to 14 tools that help them reach their full potential by encouraging self-awareness, self-esteem and discipline.
The next at-home barre workout comes from Sarita Allen, a former dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Sarita founded Ailey Barre in 2015 and teaches the class to students of all levels at Ailey Extension in New York City.