The Alvin Ailey Dance Camp has been using the power of dance to positively impact the lives of children in the North Lawndale neighborhood for the last three years, offering a creative outlet and making ABC7 Eyewitness News Chicago Proud.
The campers came, sewed and stitched to create a quilt to celebrate AileyCamp Miami's 10th Anniversary. The young dancers presented the quilt on July 18 in front of an audience of parents and relatives. AileyCamp Miami is a six-weep, full scholarship program that is funded by the Adrienne Arsht Center for Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. During the time, campers work to boost their self-confidence and become fluent in West African, jazz, modern and ballet dance routines.
WNBC Anchor Jummy Olabanji goes behind the scenes at AileyCamp New York for an inside look on how the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater continues to give back to the community.
THE BRONX - The prestigious Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's AileyCamp is celebrating its 30th anniversary. About 1,000 kids citywide are participating in the weekslong, free summer program to learn the art of different types of dance, including ballet, modern, jazz and West African. The kids will get to show off what they learned with a performance next month at the Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture. This year marks 60 years since the dance company was founded. AileyCamp was the last foundation created by Ailey before his death in 1989. Organizers say the camp is made possible by funding through Children’s Aid.
Campers in Miami are learning a variety of artistic talents this summer that will help them learn about themselves. AileyCamp teaches students West African dance to modern dance, as well as poetry and life skills. Each year only 110 students are chosen, out of hundreds of Miami-Dade students ages 11 to 14 who apply.
Tamara Best has long loved Alvin Ailey's dance company- and so she leapt at the opportunity to learn on of its seminal pieces on a sunny evening at New York's Lincoln Center.
What will you do in this decade? These phenomenal women are at #theperfectage to level the playing fields for everyone with experience, wisdom and heart - watch them work. The Dancing Director, Nasha Thomas, 55, former ballet dancer and National Director of AileyCamp, an Alvin Ailey summer camp based in dance for underserved youth.
In my head, I am a lovely dancer: graceful, elegant, deeply attuned to the music. My feet, however, tend to disagree. I was reminded of this tragic reality during a recent workshop with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The company is back in town celebrating the 50th anniversary of its first performance in Boston, and a key part of that celebration was to offer two community workshops last month. The opportunity was irresistible: Join scores of other people, some trained dancers and some not, to learn some of the movements from the Ailey company’s most famous piece, “Revelations.”
How did a young man, like you, from the South Side of Chicago become interested in dance? My mother was the one who insisted that I go to AileyCamp. I did a lot of community theater in the South Side of Chicago (I was interested in being an actor), and my mom thought it would be a good idea for me to know how to dance. She had seen Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater perform, and heard they were hosting a summer program for inner city children.
For 6 weeks, the Alvin Ailey dance camp provides 100 students from some of Miami’s roughest neighborhoods with meals, transportation, and, most of all, a safe place for expression.