About Ailey

2023-2024 Season Image. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Constance Stamatiou
Please Credit Photo: 2023-2024 Season Image. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Constance Stamatiou. Photo by Dario Calmese 
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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

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Announces Holiday Season at New York City Center December 4 - January 5

NEW YORK — July 30, 2024 — Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, New York City Center’s Principal Dance Company and America’s cultural ambassador to the world, returns to the New York City Center stage for its annual, five-week holiday engagement, December 4 – January 5, celebrating Legacy in Motion. Featuring the world premieres of Sacred Songs by Interim Artistic Director Matthew Rushing, Finding Free by Hope Boykin, Many Angels by Lar Lubovitch, and Al-Andalus Blues by Jamar Roberts, the season also includes the 25th anniversary staging of Ronald K. Brown’s rapturous blockbuster Grace and a new production of Elisa Monte’s mesmerizing Treading. Live music will be presented at select performances of Finding Free, Sacred Songs, and the soul-stirring Alvin Ailey masterpiece Revelations.

Summer of Inspiration: AileyCamp Empowers and Uplifts Local Youth in New York City and Newark During July-August in Six-Week Full Scholarship Program

(New York, NY) - June 27, 2024 – This year, AileyCamp celebrates 35 years of transforming the lives of nearly 1,000 youth annually across the country through dance, inspiring students to discover their unlimited potential. The two local programs will kick off their six-week summer sessions on July 1, 2024, in the Bronx, in collaboration with Children’s Aid Society, and in Newark, with New Jersey Performing Arts Center and Newark Public Schools.

AileyCamp Celebrates 35th Anniversary With "Excellence"

(New York, NY) – May 22, 2024 – This summer the nationally acclaimed AileyCamp program celebrates 35 years of positively impacting inner-city youth across America through the arts with a curriculum guided by the theme, “Excellence”. Founded in 1989 by Alvin Ailey and the Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey, AileyCamp is a testament to his vision of using dance to enrich young lives. AileyCamp – still accepting applications in select locations – helps students ages 11-14 reach for their unlimited potential in 10 cities nationwide: Baltimore, MD; Berkeley, CA; Chicago, IL; Kansas City, KS and MO; Miami, FL; New York, NY; Newark, NJ and Seattle, WA.

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