The speakers behind the green sofa and love seat in the sunny living room of Rosa Cruz’s Washington Heights apartment were silent as Ms. Cruz’s 10-year-old granddaughter, Maria Cruz de Leon, shyly danced.
AileyCamp, named for the country's most famous African-American dancer, offers inner-city children instruction on creative movement and a great deal more.
Something extraordinary is happening at IS 61. For the third consecutive summer, the New Brighton school is hosting AileyCamp Staten Island, a six-week program that offers 80 underprivileged children, ages 11 to 14, disciplined dance instruction in ballet, modern dance, jazz and tap as well as other perks like meals and field trips -- all free of charge.
Dozens of kids from across Miam-Dade are learning to express themselves through dance this summer taught by one of the nation's best dance companies.
Alvin Ailey used to tell his dancers, "You are all gods and goddesses," and it's just this kind of affirmation that is the organizing principle behind AileyCamp. The six-week summer camp for at-risk middle schoolers was launched by the Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey in Kansas City in 1989, and since has spread across the country.
Tyrone Aiken, Executive Director of the Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey (KCFAA), presents the Final Performance of the 2009 AileyCamp students.
Sitting in the empty audience of Zellerbach Hall, David McCauley talks about AileyCamp, the educational dance project that he is the charter director of for Cal Performances.
Glorya Kaufman tangos in Buenos Aires and Paris and has a ballroom in her Los Angeles home, where she practices her moves with friends. She has pledged $6 million to Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's educational programs and is set to be honored today at the troupe's Manhattan headquarters, where the fifth-floor lobby is being named after her.
Joined by a troupe of young dancers from one of Alvin Ailey's community programs, superstar Beyonce poses for Mario Testino for the April issue and talks to us about the importance of body confidence, her five-year plan, and the emotional performance she gave for the new president of the United States.
The work of Alvin Ailey — the legendary dancer and choreographer — lives on through his ground-breaking dance troupe, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.