Christopher Taylor still carries Newark with him every time he steps onto a stage. He remembers summers filled with booming house music, crowded park festivals and long days spent dancing in the middle of circles of cheering adults. “My grandmother was a house head,” he said, naming DJs and artists like Black Coffee and Kenny Bobien he heard at home. “I grew up with house music blasting all day.”
LAUREL, Miss. (WDAM) - A world-renowned dance instructor from New York visited Laurel Thursday to conduct a special class and do some recruiting for a prestigious summer dance program in the Big Apple. Melanie Person, who is co-director of the Ailey School in New York, taught a master ballet class Thursday morning at Laurel Middle School. It’s part of a three-day residency in the Magnolia State, organized by the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience in Meridian. She’ll teach two other classes Friday in Meridian before hosting an audition Saturday for a prestigious summer dance program at the Ailey School.
The legacy left by Alvin Ailey extends far beyond the two world-renowned companies that bear his name. It lives on in a school of excellence dedicated to spreading a style.
By now, Natalya Blaine and her daughter Nasya have their routine down pat. Four days a week, Natalya wakes up, cooks lunch and dinner, then stores the meals in to-go containers as 17-year old Nasya packs up and gets dressed. They load their belongings into their car - the food, Nasya's dance shoes and clothes, Natalya's homework for her master's program - make a quick stop at BJ's for gas, call Natalya's mother to say a prayer, and are on the road by late morning.
Jane Vorburger seemed well-qualified to teach dance back in 2008, after dancing with American Ballet Theatre for five years, getting a master’s degree in dance from New York University, and teaching at ABT and top studios like Steps on Broadway. But there was something else she felt she needed: a dance teacher certification.
The partnership between Fordham and the Ailey School has grown into one of the preeminent BFA dance programs in the country. Its graduates—inspired by Alvin Ailey’s trailblazing, humanist vision—have used their holistic education to make an impact in the arts and beyond.
The question for some of us is, why some people want to keep working decades beyond retirement age? CNN Opinion editor Stephanie Griffith asked seven people who are past the conventional retirement age why they are still at the job and got as many responses as there were respondents. Some keep working to make ends meet; others, because they love what they do and can’t imagine giving it up. And some insist that they are better than ever at their chosen professions and love leaning into their growing sense of competence. They continue to work happily and productively, and were happy to explain to us how and why they do it.
The Ailey/Fordham Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) program in dance is hosting the “Celebrating 25 Years” Dance Benefit Concert at the Ailey Citigroup Theater at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, April 15. The event is open to alumni, staff, students, family and the public and will begin with a cocktail reception. The performances will follow, beginning at 7 p.m.
Note: This article is presented as part of the ALL ARTS program “Alvin Ailey New Directions” by filmmaker Steven Tabakin. The eight-part digital series follows choreographers Quilan “Cue” Arnold and Maria Bauman as they work with dancers from The Ailey School as part of their New Directions Choreography Lab residencies. Here, Arnold shares further insight into his process.
The story took flight with a chance encounter at the 60th Street post office in Manhattan. It was the mid-'90s and Denise Jefferson, then head of The Ailey School, and Edward Bristow, then dean of Fordham College at Lincoln Center, would often bump into each other in the neighborhood. At that point, both schools were already looking for ways to expand their relationship, and Jefferson had previously floated the idea of starting a BFA program. While standing in line to buy stamps, Bristow says, their friendly chitchat set in motion an idea to form a planning committee tasked with creating a BFA program that would change the lives of scores of young dancers.