The New York Times - Scene City: Greeting The Solstice
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater celebrated the 50th anniversary of The Ailey School with a gala on June 13 at Lincoln Center.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
New York Amsterdam News - The Alvin Ailey School: 50 Years And Still Going Strong
On Thursday, June 13, the centerpiece of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Lincoln Center engagement will be The Ailey Spirit gala, which launches the 50th anniversary celebration of The Ailey School. The evening’s honorary chair isaward-winningactressLorraine Toussaint, star in NBC’s “The Village,” Netflix’s “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power,” AMC’s “Into the Badlands,” and the recently released supernatural thriller “Fast Color” and also the proud parent of a student at The Ailey School.
Shondaland - Judith Jamison Takes Us Through 60 Years Of Alvin Ailey's Brilliance
When Judith Jamison joined the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1965, there were 10 dancers in the company. Today, six decades after Ailey and a small group of black dancers gave their inaugural performance at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, his legacy now includes more than 250 original ballets, 30 dancers, a robust educational and training program, and sold-out performances all across the globe.
WBUR - How Owning Her Disability Helped Alvin Ailey Dancer Samantha Figgins Find Her Confidence
Samantha Figgins is as deliberate and graceful as the dancers by her side. But until recently her experience has been different from theirs. Last fall, she was fitted for the first time with hearing aids.
CBS Baltimore - Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, Ravens Tackle Brandon Williams Inspire Students Through Dance
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Ravens tackle Brandon Williams stepped off the football field and onto the stage to show off his dance moves this week with Alvin Ailey's Courtney Celeste Spears at Henderson-Hopkins Elementary School.
The Baltimore Sun - Ravens Defensive Tackle And Alvin Ailey Dancer Swap Moves To Launch New School Program
Few fans of football and modern dance will ever get to see the two worlds collide on stage. Tuesday afternoon at Henderson-Hopkins Partnership School, about 55 students from Henderson-Hopkins Partnership School and Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women witnessed just that as Ravens defensive tackle Brandon Williams cut the rug with Courtney Celeste Spears, a Baltimore native and a dancer with the acclaimed Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
Fox 45 Good Day Baltimore - Combining The Love Of Dance And Football
To inspire a group of young locals through dance and football, Alvin Ailey dancer Courtney Celeste Spears and Baltimore Raven’s player Brandon Williams will join forces for a panel discussion today sponsored by M&T Bank and Wilmington Trust.
Dance Spirit - How Ailey's Samantha Figgins Dances With Hearing Loss
Samantha Figgins is currently in her fifth season with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (and was a Dance Spirit cover girl back in 2013!). But what many people don't know is that the gorgeous dancer suffers from single-sided deafness. As a baby, Figgins contracted spinal meningitis, which caused her to lose all hearing in her right ear. She never gave up on her dance dreams, though, and fought her way through uncomfortable situations, never missing an opportunity to learn and grow. Now, after getting her first pair of hearing aids, she opens up about her path to success. —(As told to Courtney Celeste Spears)
The New York Times - Special Sunday Insert: Uplift!
By Zadie Smith. When I was about 12, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater came to town and my mother took me to see them. It was a trip for just us two, and I was a little reluctant, suspecting some species of racial uplift, which I felt I could receive far more easily by staying in my room, listening to Movie Love and watching Cameo's "Word Up" video on repeat. I was suspicious of racial uplift in general. The way it always seemed to point in the same direction, toward the supposed "higher" arts: the theater but not the television, opera singers but not beatboxers, ballet dancers but not body-poppers. No Jamaican mother ever ran into a kid's bedroom, waving a cassette, crying: "Have you heard 'Push It'? It's by some brilliant young ladies from New York!" Yet I couldn't imagine anything on the legitimate stage meaning as much to me as Salt-N-Pepa's bump and grind.
Spectrum News Los Angeles - The Beat On 1: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Comes To Los Angeles
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Rehearsal Director and Guest Artist Matthew Rushing discusses his ties to the Los Angeles area, how he started dancing and the programming for Ailey’s engagement at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion April 3-7.