Grammy Award winner SZA and award-winning filmmakers Tonya Lee and Spike Lee have been named honorary chairs for the Opening Night Gala (Dec. 2) kicking off the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s 2026-27 season. The company’s five-week holiday season at New York City Center runs through Jan. 3, 2027.
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.
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.
Back in New York, Alvin Ailey kicked off its winter season with a star-studded opening night gala at the New York City Center. Check out these, and even more star sightings of the week below.
Inside Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's 2022 gala. On November 30, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater celebrated the opening of its holiday season with a gala performance at New York City Center.
MANHATTAN, New York (WABC) -- The Alvin Ailey Dance Company kicked off their holiday season in grand fashion Wednesday night with a special benefit performance. New works and returning favorites are on the program at the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. There's even a romantic duet dance to the music of "Softly as I Leave You," part of a routine called "Nine Sinatra Songs."
Our editor attended Ailey’s Opening Night Gala in NYC and This is a personal account about her experience: The night of the Alvin Ailey Opening Night Gala was not only a beautiful piece of nostalgia following their return to the stage after two years, but a reminder that COVID had completely ripped me from my sense of personal style. Though the invitation clearly read “gala,” I found myself consistently second, third, and fourth guessing my choices of outfits, fragrance, lip color, and shoes. Anyone who knows me personally can attest to the fact that casualwear is my best friend – mom jeans, an oversized tee and some kicks are typically my way to go. But don’t let the clean Air Forces fool you; I can put a piece together in a hot second.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art honored its new acquisitions, including Ronald S. Lauder’s promised gift, at a black-tie gala on Dec. 7. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater celebrated Robert Battle’s 10 years as artistic director at its opening night gala on Dec. 1, held at the Ziegfeld Ballroom. And the New York Philharmonic held a concert and benefit dinner at Lincoln Center on Dec. 2.
New Yorkers had a message for omicron on Wednesday night: We got this. We’re not letting a new variant stop us. It came from the throngs who gathered to see the tree lighting at Rockefeller Center, and from the ticket-holders for opening night of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s season at City Center, its first since 2019.
“Still we dance” is the new slogan of the celebrated Alvin Ailey Dance Theater Company, which is opening its season Wednesday night at the New York City Center. It’s the first time they’ll perform live on stage in two years. PIX11’s Hazel Sanchez got a behind the scenes look at how the performers have prepared to inspire audiences in-person once again. Performances run for the next three weeks.