Press Coverage

June 03, 2020

The Wall Street Journal - 'Revelations' For Trying Times

Since 2013, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has appeared annually at Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater. This year is the exception, somewhat. As part of its Ailey All Access series of online presentations, begun March 30 in the wake of the pandemic, the troupe has been working on ways to still offer a June season of a sort. Before the theater shutdown, live performances had been scheduled for June 10 to 14. Instead, starting this Thursday at 8 p.m. EDT, viewers at home will be able to stream a four-part mixed bill, performed on the Koch stage, the was filmed in 2015.

May 22, 2020

NPR's Here & Now - Celebrating 'Revelations' In These Times

If life were normal this spring, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater would be on the road performing its annual national tour. They'd be celebrating the 60th anniversary of the company's signature work, “Revelations”, described by The New York Times as “modern dance's unquestionably greatest hit.”

March 29, 2020

The Boston Globe - Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Kicks Off Free Streaming Series

There may not be a crowd of folks gathering around a birthday cake. But make no mistake — Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is celebrating the anniversary of the company’s very first performance, on March 30, 1958, and we’re all invited. The organization is launching Ailey All Access (www.alvinailey.org/ailey-all-access) to share free online streaming of performances, classes, workshops, conversations, and short original films by company dancers.

March 21, 2020

The New York Times - Realigning For A Eurythmic Convergence

As the lyrics go in “I Been ’Buked” — the opening section of Alvin Ailey’s masterpiece, “Revelations” — “There is trouble all over this world.” Don’t we know it. Last week after Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater abruptly ended its tour and sent its dancers home, Danica Paulos — who creates content on Instagram for the group — asked her fellow company members if they were, she said, “down to create some positivity and some inspiration.”

March 06, 2020

Chicago Tribune - Storied Company Stays Vital While Not Forgetting Its Past

Ailey has rightly earned its stripes as one of the nation's best dance companies, not just because of its history, but not in spite of it either. The company doesn't ignore its founder or allow itself to fade into antiquity... Apart from "Revelations," Ailey's 1960 masterpiece that comes standard at the end of every show the late choreographer's company performs in Chicago, this was an entirely new-to-us program of Chicago premieres... It starts with "Busk," by Canadian choreographer Aszure Barton, made in 2009 and added to Ailey's rep last year... Second on the bill, "Ode" (2019) is the latest work from Jamar Roberts, a company dancer recently named choreographer-in-residence (the first in the company's history to hold that title).

March 05, 2020

Iowa Public Radio - Celebrating 60 Years Of Alvin Ailey's 'Revelations'

Set to spirituals, gospel songs and blues, Alvin Ailey’s modern dance masterpiece "Revelations" was first performed in 1960. It was unlike anything audiences had seen before, and since then it’s been performed continuously around the globe. On this edition of Talk of Iowa, host Charity Nebbe speaks with Iowa native Ronnie Favors of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater about her journey through modern dance and the troupe’s upcoming Iowa performance.

February 20, 2020

Atlanta Journal Constitution - Alvin Ailey 'Revelations' Comes To Fox

For 21 years former Alvin Ailey principal dancer Nasha Thomas has traveled to Atlanta with a singular mission. In an age when many public schools have gutted or cut back on their arts programs, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Thomas - in a long and important collaboration with the city - haven shown the value of art in individual lives. The founder of the renowned New York City-based Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey, who died in 1989, was an advocate for the importance of arts education and believed that bringing the arts to underprivileged communities and to public schools was vital.

February 10, 2020

The Washington Post - Dancing With The Stars

Alvin Ailey company features six local children at the Kennedy Center in its signature work. The dancers emerged onto the blue-lit stage wearing all white. In rows of two - their hands clasped - they slid across the theater floor, threw their arms above their heads and twirled. In front of them, 2,000 people sat in red velvet seats at the Kennedy Center's Opera House. But the dancers remained poised - not even the raucous cheering that echoed through the theater could melt the stern looks from the dancers' faces.

February 06, 2020

The Washington Informer - Alvin Ailey Returns For New Season Of Choreographic Splendor

Hope Boykin, 20-Year Veteran of Dance Theatre, Prepares for Final Bows. The internationally-acclaimed Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has returned to the District much to the delight of faithful fans and fittingly during Black History Month, with a mixture of classic favorites, new productions and exciting premiered on the Kennedy Center's Opera House stage for seven performances - now through Feb. 9.

January 24, 2020

Smithsonian Magazine - Trove Of Stunning Dance Photography Now Online

Modern dance impresario Alvin Ailey once asked photographer Jack Mitchell to shoot publicity images of his dancers for their next performance without even knowing the title of their new work. Seeing “choreography” in the images Mitchell produced, Ailey leapt into an ongoing professional relationship with Mitchell. “I think that speaks to the trust that they had in one another,” says Rhea Combs, a curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. Ailey “knew it would work out somehow, some way.” This partnership, which began in the 1960s, led to the production of more than 10,000 memorable images, and the museum has now made those photos available online.