When Robert Battle goes to visit Dessie Williams, the cousin who raised him, she loves to brag that she always knew he was special. "You didn't have to encourage him to do anything; he did them. He was self-motivated," she said.
Dancer Jacqueline Green started at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's school at age 17, and today is one of the rising stars of the venerable dance company. She told correspondent Rita Braver she credits her success to the company's founder.
Alvin Ailey American Dnace Theater announced Thursday that Jamar Roberts will be the company's first resident choreographer. Mr. Roberts, a veteran company member, will begin his tenure with "Ode," an examination of the value of life in an era of pervasive gun violence. The work for six dancers will debut on Dec. 10 as a part of Ailey's five-week season at New York City Center.
Using the power of movement, the legendary dance company Alvin Ailey is touching lives of at-risk youth through AileyCamp, a six-week summer camp. It gives kids a creative outlet to feel good about themselves. Joining us was director of AileyCamp Chicago, Lizette Rayford and a current student in the program, Kristen Roberts.
When the choreographer Troy Powell was a student at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's school, more than forty years ago, he was struck, he remembered recently, by "these men that looked like me, these men that danced!" The other night, when he again found himself moved by a young man who looked like him, he was less surprised: Powell had handpicked the boy for the resemblance. The occasion for the body double was Powell's newest work, "Testimony," choreographed for the Ailey School's fiftieth-anniversary gala, at Lincoln Center.
Masazumi Chaya, the associate artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater since 1991, will retire on Jan. 5 after the company's annual City Center season. But he'll still be involved with the organization: After he steps down, Chaya, 72, will be in charge of a licensing project that will assist in the restaging of Ailey's works. Matthew Rushing, a veteran dancer and the company's rehearsal director, will take over as associate artistic director, while Ronni Favors, a former Ailey member, will become the company's rehearsal director. Clifton Brown, a current dancer, will join Linda Celeste Sims as an assistant to the rehearsal director.
Dance is all about balance: long lines, landing exaggerated pirouettes, and maintaining perfect form from head to toe. Often, that sense of balance—of remaining strong and steady through every turn—starts in the ear. Samantha Figgins knows this all too well. A life-saving surgery during infancy left her with unilateral hearing loss, or deafness in one ear (her right). In our latest episode of The Movement, Figgins reveals the life-changing decision that allowed her to hear — and perform — fully, for the very first time.
In celebration of Pride Month, Ailey Extension’s Vogue instructor Cesar Valentino hosted a special Vogue Workshop and Mini Ball. Voguing is a style of modern dance that has become popular once more thanks to the hit FX TV series "Pose."
When Brenna Crowley gears up for her workout, she slips into four-inch peep-toe stilettos instead of sneakers. "I thought I knew how to wear heels," she says. "Then I tried dancing in them." Since 2017, Ms. Crowley has been strutting an imaginary catwalk and striking a pose at The Ailey Extension's Vogue class.
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater celebrated the 50th anniversary of The Ailey School with a gala on June 13 at Lincoln Center.