Judith Jamison News

Last night, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's 2019-2020 holiday season engagement at New York City Center kicked off with a star-studded Opening Night Gala Benefit performance and party led by Artistic Director Robert Battle, with award-winning actress and singer Renée Elise Goldsberry as honorary chair. 

“Mr. Ailey had this notion that a dancer needed to know or understand multiple techniques and styles,” she explains. “He was ahead of his time in that regard. Without realizing it, he was thinking about the future o

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater kicks off its five-week holiday season with a one-night only gala benefit on Wednesday, December 4 at 7pm, complete with an exceptional performance at New York City Center and dinner-party at the Hilton New York Grand Ballroom.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater kicks off its five-week holiday season with a one-night only gala benefit on Wednesday, December 4 at 7pm, complete with an exceptional performance at New York City Center and dinner-party at the Hilton New York Grand Ballroom. The gala honors Philanthropist Elaine Wynn & The Elaine P. Wynn & Family Foundation for their generous contributions which have supported the creation of new works as well as the Elaine Wynn & Family Education Wing, which in 2017 added three floors a?" featuring four dance studios and two classrooms a?" to The Joan Weill Center for Dance, New York's largest building dedicated to dance.  The event's co-chairs are Emily & Len Blavatnik, Paulette Mullings Bradnock & Howard Bradnock, Mellody Hobson & George Lucas, Daria L & Eric J. Wallach and Joan & Sandy Weill.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater announces programming for a historic night at Ailey celebrating Associate Artistic Director Masazumi Chaya on Sunday, December 22nd at 7:30pm at New York City Center. Previously, Robert Battle, Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, shared the news that the Company's beloved mainstay for nearly five decades, Mr. Chaya, intends to retire on January 5, 2020, at the conclusion of the Company's New York City Center season. Having joined the Company in 1972 as a dancer, Mr. Chaya performed under Mr. Ailey's direction for 15 years, subsequently assumed responsibility for rehearsing the Company-a role for which Mr. Ailey had cultivated him-and for more than 28 years, as Associate Artistic Director, has maintained the repertoire, handled innumerable creative decisions, and guided generations of the Company's dancers.

Works & Process, the performing arts series at the Guggenheim, presents Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater: Season Preview featuring Resident Choreographer Jamar Roberts on Monday, November 18 at 7:30pm.

Judith Jamison and members of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater appear at TEDx for REVELATIONS FROM OF A LIFETIME IN DANCE.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is currently bringing audiences to their feet in London during over two dozen international performances this month.  From the Sadler's Wells Theatre this Friday, Rehearsal Director Matthew Rushing will host a live stream masterclass teaching excerpts of Rennie Harris' Lazarus, involving dance studios across the United Kingdom and open to students around the world via the internet.

a??a??a??a??a??a??a??The Ailey School, now celebrating its 50th anniversary, was selected to perform in the 2019 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Over 100 students from all programs of The Ailey School will answer the call of a?oeLet's Have a Parade,a?? the iconic phrase that has signaled the start of every Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade since 1924.  Led by The Ailey School Co-Director Tracy Inman, the dancers from age seven to 25 will perform a dance inspired by the a?oeRocka My Soula?? finale of Alvin Ailey's American masterpiece Revelations.

BET Networks and Beverly Bond, CEO, Executive Producer and Creator of BLACK GIRLS ROCK!® are excited to announce Emmy-nominated actress, Niecy Nash as host of The 2019 BLACK GIRLS ROCK!® Awards on BET. This year's celebration will tape on Sunday, August 25, 2019 at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark, NJ. The broadcast will premiere on Sunday, September 8, 2019 at 8:00 P.M. ET/PT on BET.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, New York City Center's Principal Dance Company, returns to the theater's stage from December 4, 2019 a?' January 5, 2020. Artistic Director Robert Battle leads Ailey's 32 extraordinary dancers during this annual five-week engagement, which has become a joyous holiday tradition.  The repertory features more than two dozen diverse works by some of the world's preeminent choreographers, including world premieres by Donald Byrd and Ailey dancer and newly announced Resident Choreographer Jamar Roberts, company premieres by Aszure Barton and Camille A. Brown, and new productions by Judith Jamison and Lar Lubovitch.

Robert Battle, Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, announced today that the Company's beloved mainstay for nearly five decades, Associate Artistic Director Masazumi Chaya, intends to retire on January 5, 2020, following the conclusion of the Company's New York City Center season. Having joined the Company in 1972 as a dancer, Mr. Chaya performed under Mr. Ailey's direction for 15 years, subsequently assumed responsibility for rehearsing the Company—a role for which Mr. Ailey had cultivated him—and for more than 28 years, as Associate Artistic Director, has maintained the repertoire, handled innumerable creative decisions, and guided generations of the Company's dancers.

Ford Theatres presents Rennie Harris Funkedified on Saturday, July 20 at 8:00 pm as part of its IGNITE @ the FORD! series. Celebrating the funk music and street dance of the 1970s, Funkedified challenges stereotypes and invites the audience to view hip-hop through a new lens.

Led by Artistic Director Robert Battle, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's 2019 Lincoln Center engagement continued last night with the star-studded Ailey Spirit Gala. The centerpiece of Ailey's engagement celebrated the 50th Anniversary of The Ailey School, the official school of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and a springboard for many notable artists - including more than 70% of the Company's dancers.

Ford Theatres presents Rennie Harris Funkedified on Saturday, July 20 at 8:00 pm as part of its IGNITE @ the FORD! series. Celebrating the funk music and street dance of the 1970s, Funkedified challenges stereotypes and invites the audience to view hip-hop through a new lens.

Led by Artistic Director Robert Battle, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will return to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts David H. Koch Theater for a seven-performance engagement from June 12-16. Highlights include the world premiere of Darrell Grand Moultrie's Ounce of Faith on Wednesday, June 12; The Ailey Spirit Gala benefit celebrating the 50th Anniversary of The Ailey School on Thursday, June 13; performances celebrating and commemorating Pride Month; and a culminating program on Sunday, June 16 honoring dance legend Carmen de Lavallade.

The centerpiece of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Lincoln Center engagement is The Ailey Spirit Gala on Thursday, June 13th. The event launches the 50th Anniversary celebration of The Ailey School, which has served as a springboard for many notable artists, including more than 70% of the dancers in the Company. The evening's Honorary Chair is award-winning actress Lorraine Toussaint, who currently stars in NBC's The Village, Netflix's She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, AMC's Into the Badlands, and the recently released supernatural thriller Fast Color. She will also star in the upcoming films Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark and The Glorias, where she will portray the iconic feminist and civil right activist Flo Kennedy opposite Julianne Moore. Toussaint is the parent of a student at The Ailey School.

There is nothing negative I could possibly say about the performance I witnessed on April 4, 2019 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.  Such artistry is almost hard to describe.  This company has an amazing history and is superb in both their interpretation and their amazing technique. Their 60-year history of excellence is a gift to our lives that must always Be. What more could you want? Extreme gratitude given to Glorya Kaufman, and Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at the Music Center.  Ms. Kaufman is an Angel for the Arts in Los Angeles; especially for Dance. Supple strength that fluidly morphs until it hits a line that is as outstretched and aesthetically perfect as could be, and those are the visual pictures they create with their bodies.  It is a way of moving that combines all the elements of different opposites that we feel, react to and dream of, painting a visual picture, conveying expressive perceptions.  

Venetia Stifler, executive and artistic director of the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, on behalf of the 2019 Ruth Page Award Committee, awarded the 2019 Ruth Page Awards to Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and its Artistic Director Robert Battle and Chicago Dance History Project and its Artistic and Executive Director Jenai Cutcher. The special event took place Friday, March 8 before the sold-out performance of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater celebrating its 60th anniversary as a company and the 50th anniversary of performing at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, 50 E. Ida B. Wells Dr. 

Today, Luther Burbank Center for the Arts (LBC) announced the first 11 new shows to be added to its 2019 2020 season, continuing its tradition of showcasing a diverse lineup of chart-topping musicians, compelling dance companies, and groundbreaking storytellers. Tickets for all shows go on-sale to LBC members today, Friday, April 5 at 12 p.m., and to the general public on Friday, April 26 at 12 p.m. Tickets are available online at lutherburbankcenter.org, by calling 707-546-3600, or at the Luther Burbank Center for the Arts ticket office (50 Mark West Springs Road in Santa Rosa), open Tuesdays through Sundays from noon to 6 p.m.