Alicia Graf Mack, the Daria L. and Eric J. Wallach Artistic Director of AILEY, announces her debut children’s book, Introducing Rhythm, set for release on November 9 to kick off National Children’s Book Week (November 9–15). With full-color illustrations by artist Justin Campbell, Introducing Rhythm invites readers ages 4–12 into a joyful world of movement, music, and self-discovery.
Action enables meaning in Alicia Graf Mack's vision of physicality. As dancer-turned-artistic director of the largest modern company in the United States, her convictions are not just effective - they are active truths.
Alicia Graf Mack, the Daria L. and Eric J. Wallach Artistic Director of AILEY, has announced her debut children's book, Introducing Rhythm, set for release on November 9 to kick off National Children's Book Week (November 9–15). With full-color illustrations by artist Justin Campbell, Introducing Rhythm invites readers ages 4–12 into a joyful world of movement, music, and self-discovery.
Growing up, I loved dance. And so I spent years taking African, hip-hop and jazz classes at my local studio in Queens, New York. While I also greatly admired classical ballet, even as a child I was acutely aware of how, aesthetically, Black dancers had to fit in with Eurocentric beauty ideal. Then I discovered Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Going to its show and seeing dancers who looked like me was thrilling. The stories on the stage were told through exquisite movement and music, and they were also told through hair.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns to New Jersey Performing Arts Center for Mother’s Day weekend tradition. The company, a longtime favorite of tri‑state audiences, returns for its 27th engagement as NJPAC’s Principal Resident Affiliate. The performances feature new works by Maija García, Fredrick Earl Mosley, Matthew Neenan and Jamar Roberts, along with the company premiere of Medhi Walerski’s “Blink of an Eye.” Each program closes with Alvin Ailey’s acclaimed 1960 masterpiece “Revelations.”
Artistic Director, Alicia Graf Mack and Choreographer, Matthew Neenan join NBC 10’s morning anchors to discuss Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s engagement in Boston and the program including the world premiere of Matthew Neenan’s Difference Between.
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater helped expose Chicago students to the arts at the Auditorium in the Loop. With philanthropic giving dwindling and federal grants cut, Chicago schools and those across the country are struggling to find the arts. On Thursday, hundreds of Chicago students saw a performance in-person and got a glimpse of possible careers in the arts, as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returned to the city. The mini performance at the Auditorium was much more interactive than a traditional performance. Nearly 1,500 Chicago students were asked to help cue lights and sets, and students rehearsed a few moves.
In the world of dance, communication often transcends the spoken word. It exists in the breath between steps and the intentionality of a gesture. I recently had the distinct pleasure of sitting down with two individuals who have mastered this silent language: Alicia Graf Mack, Artistic Director and Isaiah Day, Principal dancer.
WBGO's Doug Doyle chats with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's new Artistic Director Alicia Graf Mack about the upcoming performances at NJPAC May 8-10.
Look through imagery of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and you'll see years of works of artistry that showcase Black bodies defying gravity with grace, power and deep emotion. Some of those pictures might be of Alicia Graf Mack in her tilted, lithe aerial side split. The former principal Ailey dancer (from 2005 to 2014) is now the dance company's new artistic director, only the fourth artistic director since the New York company's formation by its namesake in 1958.