Of all the mantras Anai Espinoza and her fellow campers recite each morning at AileyCamp, the eighth grader’s favorite is this: “I am in control.” “It makes me believe I have the power to choose the right thing,” she said. Anai is one of a thousand students in 10 states this summer attending AileyCamp, a free six-week program for youngsters in financial need or with academic, social or family challenges.
AileyCamp is presented as a partnership between Atlanta Ballet and the famed Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and provides 100 local middle schoolers (ages 11 to 14) from underserved communities the chance to attend a six-week summer camp for free.
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.
Students of the Henry E. Perrine Elementary School participated in the Night Creature: An Imaginative Journey Through Dance residency with Ailey Arts In Education teaching artists.
This season, Rennie Harris is Ailey's first-ever artist in residence and has created the company's first-ever two-act work.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater believes dancing is for everyone, and provides a variety of classes, including ones for seniors, called AileyDance for Active Seniors.
A dancer isn’t always born a dancer. Sometimes a mother has to step in. Growing up on the South Side of Chicago with his single working mother, Solomon Dumas was involved in community theater and interested in the arts. But dance wasn’t much of a presence in his life until his mother signed him up for AileyCamp, when he was 12.
Ruschell Boone looks at the history of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater with current and former artistic directors Robert Battle and Judith Jamison. They also discuss the 60th season, which is having performances at New York City Center through December 30th.
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Standing on the stage where she first learned how to dance, 17-year old Dymon Smith softly describes her passion for the arts. “I found my heart in dance. It’s been my breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. I can’t imagine my life without it,” she said. Smith is a student at the New World School of the Arts but it was on this stage where she voluntarily spent six weeks of her summer mentoring and training younger dancers at AileyCamp Miami. Just a few years ago, Dymon was an Ailey camper. She was 10-years old when she was introduced to the power of dance.
Some talented students danced the weekend away in Downtown Miami, as AileyCamp held its 10th summer day camp. For the past decade, the free, six-week event has been welcoming students ages 11 through 14 and has strived to provide them with a fun, safe and artistic environment. AileyCamp Miami uses dance as a vehicle for developing self-esteem, creative expression and imagination.