Alvin Ailey News

Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) - the world's number one live-theatre company - has agreed terms to become the majority shareholder of BB Group, parent company to BB Promotion, one of the leading producers and promoters of premium live entertainment in Europe and beyond with a particular strength in touring musicals and dance productions throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

The Broadway at Birdland concert series has announced the return of Broadway and concert star Daniel Reichard, who will return to Birdland on Sunday, May 10 at 6pm, with a show celebrating the music and lyrics of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The evening will feature selections from the celebrated songwriting team's catalogue, including rarely-heard jewels and treasured classics alike.

Under the artistic direction of Bradley Shelver, the STEPS REPERTORY ENSEMBLE is the contemporary dance company of STEPS BEYOND FOUNDATION, a non-for-profit organization in residence at the prestigious Steps on Broadway. The Ensemble commissions choreographers, both established and emerging, to create new works and to restage repertory, thereby connecting to America's rich modern dance legacy. This season the Ensemble will present three different programs of dances by Mike Esperanza, Francesca Harper, Jae Man Joo, Lar Lubovitch, and Company Artistic Director Bradley Shelver, featuring two world premieres, April 30 and May 1 & 2 at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, 405 West 55 Street.

This year's Jacob's Pillow Dance Award, a prestigious honor carrying an unrestricted $25,000 cash prize, will be presented to contemporary choreographer Liz Gerring in recognition of her talent and outstanding contributions to the dance field. Active in the dance world for nearly 20 years, Gerring regularly garners acclaim for her 'enthralling and important' works (Alastair Macaulay, The New York Times) that also 'reveals the dancers as the splendid athletes that they are' (dance critic Deborah Jowitt). Gerring will accept the Award and members of Liz Gerring Dance Company will perform at the Pillow's Season Opening Gala on Saturday, June 20 in the Ted Shawn Theatre. The company will return to perform the evening-length work glacier in the Doris Duke Theatre August 19-23. Previous recipients of the Jacob's Pillow Dance Award include tap artist Michelle Dorrance, the legendary choreographer Merce Cunningham, 2013 MacArthur Fellow Kyle Abraham, and Tony Award winner and director of New York Live Arts Bill T. Jones, among others.

Concrete Temple Theatre presents The Bellagio Experience: featuring a photography exhibition by Stefan Hagen, tours and panels on the topic of water, and the World Premiere play The Bellagio Fountain has been known to Make Me Cry, written by Renee Philippi, co-directed by Eric Nightengale and Renee Philippi, designed by Carlo Adinolfi, with original music composed by Joseph C. Phillips Jr. All events take place at Studio 301 at English Kills, located at 301 Ten Eyck Street between Waterbury and Bogarts Streets in Brooklyn, April 30 - May 3, 2015. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast onstage below!

The Deborah Zall Project presents both current and former members of the Martha Graham Dance Company in 'In the Company of Women, and Guests,' an evening of dances by Zall, along with the solo Robot Man choreographed by guest Kenneth Topping, former principal dancer and director of the Graham Dance Company.

Dzul Dance presents the World Premiere of Javier Dzul's 'PIXOM' (Maya for 'Spirit'), based on Mayan fables for children, inspired by ancient tales of the Aluxes, Kizin and Ixtabay.

?Oregon Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Bill Rauch has been named a Distinguished Visiting Fellow under a new effort by the Ford Foundation centered on the roles art and culture play in illuminating and addressing urgent issues of equity, opportunity, and justice in the U.S. and around the globe. The yearlong exploration, The Art of Change, reaffirms the central importance of creativity and cultural expression to healthy societies at a time when they are increasingly under threat.

Today, April 17, 2015 at 5:15 pm, American Repertory Ballet will host 'Dancing Your Way into College,' an On Pointe enrichment series event. This event will be held at ARB's Princeton studios, located in the Princeton Shopping Center (301 North Harrison Street, above McCaffrey's). This event is free and open to the public.

New York City Center will present the New York premiere of Sequence 8, the internationally celebrated nouveau cirque spectacular by Les 7 Doigts de la Main (The 7 Fingers), from April 16-26, 2015.

New York – April 15, 2015 – Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation has been selected for the New York-based Wallace Foundation's Building Audiences for Sustainability effort – a new, six-year, $52-million initiative aimed at developing practical insights into how exemplary performing arts organizations can successfully expand their audiences, the foundation announced today. The $710,000 grant is earmarked for preliminary audience research and the first cycle of work will explore how to eliminate barriers of engagement for millennials and implement new strategies to involve and retain their participation for years to come.

Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation has been selected for the New York-based Wallace Foundation's Building Audiences for Sustainability effort -- a new, six-year, $52-million initiative aimed at developing practical insights into how exemplary performing arts organizations can successfully expand their audiences, the foundation announced today. The $710,000 grant is earmarked for preliminary audience research and the first cycle of work will explore how to eliminate barriers of engagement for millennials and implement new strategies to involve and retain their participation for years to come.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust announces the Pittsburgh premiere of Raisin' Cane: A Harlem Renaissance Odyssey, starring Jasmine Guy and The Avery Sharpe Trio, which will be performed tonight, April 16, 2015, at 7:30 p.m., at the Byham Theater, 101 Sixth Street, Pittsburgh's Cultural District. This event is part of the Cohen & Grigsby Trust Presents series, presented by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. The creative concept for this production was inspired by the classic 1923 Jean Toomer novel 'Cane' and works by the musicians, composers, poets and actors of the Harlem Renaissance. The Arizona Daily Star said, 'Cane is a sweet salute to Harlem's glory days' and the Dayton Daily News wrote the performance was 'Lively, informative, motivating and entertaining...'

The Vail International Dance Festival announces its 2015 schedule to be held July 27 through August 10, marking its 27th season with world premieres, exceptional debuts, and captivating collaborations. Located in the pristine alpine community of Vail, Colorado, the Festival features many of the world's greatest artists from all genres of dance. Under the direction of former New York City Ballet star Damian Woetzel, the Festival's 2015 season includes Artist-in-Residence ballerina Carla Körbes, Savion Glover, Wendy Whelan, American Ballet Theatre's Isabella Boylston, Misty Copeland, and Herman Cornejo, New York City Ballet's Sara Mearns, Tiler Peck, Lauren Lovette, Jared Angle, Chase Finlay, Zachary Catazaro, and Joseph Gordon, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Linda Celeste Sims and Antonio Douthit-Boyd, Boston Ballet's Misa Kuranaga and Jeffrey Cirio, Pacific Northwest Ballet's Angelica Generosa, and Memphis Jookers Lil Buck and Prime Tyme.

John Turturro will star in the title role of Zorba, joined by Adam Chanler-Berat , Robert Cuccioli, Elizabeth A. Davis, Santino Fontana, Marin Mazzie, Robert Montano, Carlos Valdes and Zoe Wanamaker in Zorba!, running for seven performances, May 6 - 10, 2015. Zorba! will be directed by Walter Bobbie (Chicago) and choreographed by Josh Rhodes (Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella) with musical direction by Rob Berman. Zorba! is the final production of New York City Center's 2015 Encores! season.

On Friday, April 17, 2015 at 5:15 pm, American Repertory Ballet will host 'Dancing Your Way into College,' an On Pointe enrichment series event. This event will be held at ARB's Princeton studios, located in the Princeton Shopping Center (301 North Harrison Street, above McCaffrey's). This event is free and open to the public.

On Her Shoulders is pleased to present a FREE staged reading (by donation) of SPUNK (1926) by Zora Neale Hurston, directed by Aneesha Kudtarkar tonight, April 15, 2015.

Complexions Contemporary Ballet will perform the New Jersey premiere of Innervisions set to the music of Stevie Wonder at Kean University's Wilkins Theatre on Saturday, May 2 at 7:30 p.m. Founded in 1994 by two former Alvin Ailey members, Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden, Complexions' groundbreaking mix of methods, styles, cultures has created an entirely new and exciting vision of human movement over the past decade-and-a-half.

Northrop announces its 2015//16 season, featuring nine renowned dance companies and five performances with live music. Returning favorites include Alivn Ailey American Dance Theater and Mark Morris Dance Group. Newcomers to the Twin Cities dance scene Jessica Lang and Michelle Dorrance will also take the Carlson Family Stage in this exciting season. Northrop Director Christine Tschida previews the season in this video.

On May 3, 2015 at 2pm, New York Theatre Barn (Theatre Barn) presents its exclusive Spring Benefit - a one-time only presentation of Gotta Dance: A Choreography Conversation at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street.