Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to Return to The Bushnell, 3/24

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, beloved as one of the world's most popular dance companies, will travel to 18 cities coast-to-coast presenting 80 performances, including a performance Tuesday, March 24 at 7:30 p.m. at The Bushnell's Mortensen Hall in Hartford. Tickets, starting at $25, are on sale now and available online atwww.bushnell.org, by phone at 860-987-5900, or at The Bushnell box office, 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford. The Hartford engagement of the Alvin Ailey tour is sponsored by Fairview Capital.

Ailey Artistic Director Robert Battle recently announced that, following the tour, the Company will return to Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater from June 10th to 21st for 15 performances, continuing a new tradition for the company by hosting a second annual New York City season. The 2015 Lincoln Center engagement opens with a performance featuring the world-renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater joined by rising stars of Ailey II, gifted young dancers from The Ailey School, and inspiring students from AileyCamp in an "Ailey Spirit" spring gala benefit for scholarships and Arts in Education programs. The full program will be announced at a later date and tickets, starting at $25, go on sale Monday, April 13th.

A few days prior to the launch of Ailey's exciting 2014-15 season at New York City Center in December, Artistic Director Robert Battle visited the White House and accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom - the nation's highest civilian honor - on behalf of Alvin Ailey. Bestowed 25 years after the passing of the Company's legendary founder, President Obama proclaimed that "through him, African-American history was told in a way that it had never been told before -- with passionate, virtuoso dance performances that transfixed audiences worldwide." Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's national tour begins at the start of Black History Month and carries on the legacy of uplifting, uniting and celebrating the human spirit as Ailey's extraordinary dancers bring life to a wide variety of premieres, new productions and classic works.

The Bushnell performance will highlight classics including Alvin Ailey's signature American masterpieceRevelations, Bill T. Jones' modern dance classic D-Man in the Waters; LIFT, by Aszure Barton; and Battle's own work, Takademe.

Audience members are invited to "join in the dance" during their next trip to New York City by taking a complimentary class at The Ailey Extension using a ticket stub from any Ailey performance. The Ailey Extension's popular program of 80 weekly "real classes for real people" has been experienced by over 85,000 at Ailey's building The Joan Weill Center for Dance, New York's largest building dedicated to dance. Each free class offer is good for one year from the performance date for first time students, and when purchasing a 10-class card for returning students.

The Ailey Organization continues its mission of using dance to educate young people through special student performances and master classes on the tour. Revelations: An Interdisciplinary Approach curriculum program will be implemented in public schools in Miami, FL; Chicago, IL; Detroit, MI; Los Angeles, CA; and Houston, TX. Utilizing Alvin Ailey's signature work, Revelations, the program is an inspirational framework for a comprehensive study of language arts, social studies, and dance.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater inspires all in a universal celebration of the human spirit using the African-American cultural experience and the American modern dance tradition. For further details on the Ailey organization's performances, training programs and educational activities, visit www.alvinailey.org.