Press Coverage

May 09, 2023

Hollywood Soapbox - INTERVIEW: Christopher Taylor on his Alvin Ailey journey back to Newark

Christopher Taylor will soon perform at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, New Jersey, as part of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s annual season at the vaunted Garden State venue. For Taylor, the performance will be something of a homecoming because he’s originally from Newark, and he actually started his dance career in AileyCamp Newark’s summer program. He rose through the ranks, joining The Ailey School Junior Division, The Ailey School Professional Division and Ailey II, before making the jump (literally and figuratively) to the main company, according to his biography.

May 04, 2023

Dance Magazine - How Judith Jamison Started Dancing for Alvin Ailey

“There is about her an aura of mysticism. She appears onstage, larger than life, more an apparition than a performer, compelling us to look upon her as we might a temple dancer—with a sense of religiosity, of awe.” Those were the opening lines of Olga Maynard’s November 1972 Dance Magazine cover story on Judith Jamison, then in her late 20s and at the height of her powers as a star performer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

May 03, 2023

WBZ- TV Boston - Alvin Ailey dancers give free lessons to community before Boston shows

BOSTON - Movement, music, and "Ailey magic" drew a dancing crowd to the Salvation Army Kroc Center in Boston Wednesday night. Dancers of all ages and abilities came to experience the energy and emotion of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. "I feel like I'm a part of Mr. Ailey's legacy. When he founded his company in 1958 to celebrate the beauty of the African American experience and modern dance tradition, he wanted to put the beauty of Black people forward," said professional dancer Yannick Lebrun of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Company.

May 01, 2023

Pittsburgh Magazine - Best Bet: Dancing His Way Home

Best Bet - Pittsburgh native Jau'mair Garland is returning home this month for a performance with the modern dance company Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, showcasing contemporary works and a signature work of the theater, "Revelations." Garland formally trained in ballet and modern dance at Pittsburgh CAPA 6-12 and was named a National YoungArts winner in Modern/Contemporary category in 2020.

April 27, 2023

Montclair Local - NJPAC performance is like a “homecoming” for an MHS grad

A pirouette isn’t the only full circle happening in Chalvar Monteiro’s life. When the Montclair High School graduate was 12 years old, he saw the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater perform at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. It was a life-changing moment for him.

April 23, 2023

The Virginian-Pilot - Virginia dancer who fulfilled dream of joining Alvin Ailey’s company to perform in Hampton Roads this week

Patrick Coker sat mesmerized in a cushy chair in an audience watching the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater perform. The 12-year- old saw a celebration of the human experience in those dancers’ movements. Struck by their beauty, he had never felt such awe. The feeling soon turned into longing and a revelation. He knew what he wanted for his future: to be an Alvin Ailey dancer on the stage, instead of in his seat. And although it took a little over 12 more years to achieve, Coker will perform in Hampton Roads this week as a member of Alvin Ailey.

April 19, 2023

All Arts - At Alvin Ailey, Choreographers Explore New Directions in Dance

The eight-part ALL ARTS digital series "Alvin Ailey New Directions" traces the creative journeys of choreographers Quilan “Cue” Arnold and Maria Bauman during their New Directions Choreography Lab residencies. The studio is a stage in filmmaker Steven Tabakin’s “Alvin Ailey New Directions,” an eight-part digital series that follows choreographers Quilan “Cue” Arnold and Maria Bauman as they work with dancers from The Ailey School as part of their New Directions Choreography Lab residencies.

April 13, 2023

San Francisco Chronicle - Alvin Ailey Troupe Always a Revelation

It’s that time of year when Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s annual visit to Cal Performances shakes us awake. And with the National Medal of Arts recently bestowed upon the International Association of Blacks in Dance, it’s an apt time to reflect on the ways Black companies have historically been pigeonholed in the U.S. by non-Black writers, who not that long ago still lumped darker-skinned choreographers and performers into one genre, “Black dance.” It’s also worth remembering that, in the decades after Alvin Ailey’s early death in 1989, critics (including this one) often tried to narrow his troupe’s future, asking what Ailey should be, and what it should dance.

March 29, 2023

Caribbean Media Network USA - Meet Trinidadian Dancer with Alvin Ailey Chalvar Monteiro

Meet Chalvar Monteiro. At what age did you decide you will dedicate your life to the art of dance? My desire to be a professional dancer was first initiated after the Ailey company performed in New Jersey when I was in high school, around 2003. Shortly after, when I was introduced to the breadth of modern and contemporary practices, I knew dancing and creating would forever be a part of my rhythm.

March 22, 2023

PIX 11 - Ailey II Returns For An Exciting Season at Ailey Citigroup Theater

NEW YORK (PIX11) – The Alvin Ailey Dance Theater has become a staple in the dance world. Its renowned second company, Ailey II will return to its home, The Ailey Citigroup Theater, for a highly anticipated annual New York season. The event will be led by Artistic Director Francesca Harper. Although in its second year, Ailey II has been around for decades. What started out as an experimental company in 1974, took on a life of its own. Their goal is to serve as a platform for the next generation of dance. Since its inception, Ailey II has been responsible for launching the careers of celebrities like Jasmine Guy, Kevin Boseman (Chadwick Boseman’s brother), Vivian Nixon (Debbie Allen’s daughter) and Ephraim Sykes. Next year, they’ll be celebrating 50 years.