"The dancers have so much energy, they seem like they're being shot out of a cannon," whispers Elena Muzzi. She's sitting in Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's mirror-lined midtown studio, impatiently awaiting the arrival of the performers - some of whom she's idolized since the age of 13.
Jessye Norman, Oprah Winfrey, Wynton Marsalis and an assortment of dancers will help celebrate Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's 50th-anniversary season this year.
Alvin Ailey was a pioneer 50 years ago when he formed a small troupe of African-American dancers here in New York.
No matter how many times the dancers of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater perform "Revelations," it evokes tears with its blend of grace and spiritual rapture.
My favorite role is actually a small part - a five-minute solo - in Night Creature, choreographed by Alvin Ailey.
On March 30, 1958, an ensemble of nine African-American dancers cobbled mostly from Broadway shows debuted a work at New York City's Young Men's Hebrew Association, a low-cost venue for up-and-coming artists.
As a dancer I was always fascinated with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, its founder and, of course, its dancers. I marveled at grainy photographs of Mr. Ailey in the studio with his dancers working on what might in the future be deemed a masterpiece.
When Dominique O. Rosales takes the state in front of the Brandenburg Gate here on Saturday with the other members of the Ailey II dance company, it will mark the end of an unlikely round-trip journey.
A conversation with Judith Jamison, Arts Director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
If I could take a guess, I would simply say that God designed my body to move. I can't sit still for more than 10 minutes. I can't read and listen to music at the same time because my mind starts choreographing.