The Ailey Organization

Featured News Releases

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Opening Night Gala Honors Dance Education Luminary Jody Gottfried Arnhold Wednesday, December 4 At 7pm

NEW YORK — updated November 12, 2024 — Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater kicks off its five-week holiday season celebrating the life and legacy of Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison on Wednesday, December 4 at 7pm with a star-studded Opening Night Gala, including a performance at New York City Center and party at Ziegfeld Ballroom. The Gala honors Jody Gottfried Arnhold for her steadfast commitment to accessible dance education for all and her invaluable support of AILEY’s mission. The Honorary Chairs for the evening are Gayle King, co-host of “CBS Mornings” and Editor-at-Large of Oprah Daily, and Phylicia Rashad, two-time Tony® Award-winning actress.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s 25th Anniversary Washington, DC Gala Benefit Returns To The John F. Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts

(WASHINGTON, DC) January 17, 2025 – On Wednesday, February 5, 2025, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will host its 25th annual Washington, D.C. Gala Benefit during the week-long engagement at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (February 4 – 9) that is part of a coast-to-coast U.S. Tour celebrating Legacy in Motion and the life of Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison (1943 – 2024). A highlight of the cultural calendar and Black History Month, the 7:30pm performance on the Opera House Stage features Ailey’s extraordinary dancers in season world premieres of Matthew Rushing’s Sacred Songs and Lar Lubovitch’s Many Angels, as well as a special excerpt of Alvin Ailey’s Cry, the tour de-force solo made famous by Judith Jamison, and the must-see masterpiece Revelations. Afterwards, in the Nation’s Gallery, prominent figures in entertainment, business, philanthropy, and politics will gather for dinner and dancing.

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.

Featured Press Coverage

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Interview - “If You Can Walk, You Can Dance”: Inside the Whitney Museum’s Alvin Ailey Retrospective

In 1949, as legend has it, Alvin Ailey, then a young gymnast, followed school buddy and fellow future dance icon Carmen de Lavallade to the famed Lester Horton “Dance Theater” on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. It was a simple gesture that would lay the groundwork for the future of American concert dance. After Horton’s unexpected death, Ailey took over the Horton company for a while before starting the eponymous Alvin Ailey Company in New York, forming a beautiful, long and deeply intersectional lineage that incorporated dance, art, and innumerable interconnected histories culminating in the very first exhibit of the archival record of the Alvin Ailey Company, a show five years in the making and currently on view at The Whitney Museum of American Art.

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Town & Country - A Revelation on 55th Street

The life and legacy of Judith Jamison were celebrated on December 4 in New York City when Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater held an opening-night gala to kick off its season at New York City Center.

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VOGUE - Alvin Ailey’s Opening Night Gala Paid Tribute to the Late Judith Jamison

The world lost a great artist, but we did not lose her spirit,” said Phylicia Rashad of Judith Jamison, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's late artistic director emerita. At last night's Opening Night Gala for the dance company, Rashad served as honorary co-chair alongside Gayle King and paid special tribute to Jamison: “Just as sure as if she was standing here, we feel Judith Jamison's strength and resolve, and we know what she would be saying. She would be saying ‘keep dancing, keep striving, keep teaching, keep reaching.’" And that, we certainly did.