About Ailey

Ailey All Access. Still, We Dance
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Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, recognized by U.S. Congressional resolution as a vital American “Cultural Ambassador to the World,” has performed for over 25 million people in 48 states and in 71 countries on 6 continents, celebrating the African-American cultural experience and the American modern dance tradition. Ailey’s permanent home is The Joan Weill Center for Dance, the largest building dedicated to dance in New York City,  the dance capital of the world.

The Ailey Organization includes: Ailey II (a second performing company of young dancers and emerging choreographers), The Ailey School (one of the world's most extensive dance training programs), Ailey Arts In Education & Community Programs (which bring dance into classrooms and communities), and Ailey Extension (offering dance and fitness classes to the public). 

Featured News Releases

Ailey Documentary Opens In Movie Theaters Nationwide On Friday, August 6 After “Must-See” Acclaim From Sundance And Tribeca Film Festival Showings

New York – August 3, 2021 – Director Jamila Wignot’s powerful AILEY documentary, a resonant biography of trailblazing visionary Alvin Ailey, opens in movie theaters nationwide on Friday, August 6. Heralded as a must-see at the Sundance Film Festival and a Tribeca Film Festival critics pick, the film is told through Ailey’s own words, along with interviews with those close to him, and features evocative archival footage and rarely seen historic performances. The official trailer here previews the film acclaimed as “extraordinarily moving” and “a movie that pulses with joyful expressiveness” that “hauntingly evokes Alvin Ailey’s majesty.”

AileyCamp Launches Hybrid Program To Connect And Inspire Youth In Nine Cities Nationwide With ‘Unique’ Theme

New York, NY – July 13, 2021 – This summer, AileyCamp continues to provide youth in nine cities nationwide the opportunity to be themselves and explore their creativity during its free five-week program. Founded by Alvin Ailey and Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey in 1989, this innovative full-scholarship day camp for middle school students uses dance as a vehicle for developing self-esteem, self-discipline, creative expression, and critical-thinking skills. After the successful launch of Virtual AileyCamp last summer, AileyCamp 2021 will be held over five weeks virtually and in person this summer, with the guiding theme of “unique” in Baltimore, MD; Berkeley/Oakland CA; Chicago, IL; Kansas City, KS; Kansas City, MO; Miami, FL; New York, NY; Newark, NJ and Seattle, WA.

$20 Million Gift From Mackenzie Scott To Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater To Fund The Company's Transformative "Dancing Forward" Initiatives

NEW YORK, NY — June 22, 2021 — Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater today gratefully acknowledged an exceptional gift of $20 million from MacKenzie Scott—one of 286 donations the philanthropist and author made last week to non-profit organizations across the United States—and announced that the company will use the funds to support its “Dancing Forward” initiatives.

Featured Press Coverage

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Harper’s Bazaar - Leaps & Bounds

After a year of solo practices and virtual performances, dancers are back on stage doing what they do best: performing in front of live audiences. But for some of the field’s biggest and most transformative stars, choreographing the future of an art form steeped in tradition means leaving some things in the past.

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New York Post - Giant Leaps: New Alvin Ailey Doc Celebrates Dance Legend’s Greatness

At the beginning of “Ailey” – the documentary about iconic choreographer Alvin Ailey, which opens in New York today – greatness recognizes greatness when Cicely Tyson calls him the “Pied Piper of modern dance” at his 1988 Kennedy Center Honors induction. And for this master of movement – who founded the internationally renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater company in New York in 1958 – it was all about brining black people to the traditionally white world of dance.