The Professional Division offers post-secondary, full-time programs that take a conservatory approach to dance training for ages 17-25.
NEW YORK, NY, October 19, 2017 — At a festive ribbon-cutting, celebrated on the evening of October 18, leaders of the Ailey organization joined with dancers, students, donors, and friends from New York City’s dance community to open The Elaine Wynn & Family Education Wing, a 10,000-square-foot expansion of Ailey’s permanent home, The Joan Weill Center for Dance.
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.
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.
