Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to Launch 20-City U.S. Tour Under New Artistic Director

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will grace stages across the United States during a 20-city coast-to-coast United States tour, starting January 30 in Washington, DC and continuing to cities including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles before culminating with a Mother's Day performance in Newark on May 10.

The passionate spirit and extraordinary technique of AILEY's dancers will be showcased in diverse programs of new works, repertory favorites, and classics that have inspired and uplifted fans for decades—including the touchstone of inspiration Revelations, the ultimate anthem to resilience and joy. The company will continue to break ground with new works by contemporary choreographers that promise to propel dance in exhilarating new directions with five world premieres—Jazz Island by Maija García, Embrace by Fredrick Earl Mosley, Difference Between by Matthew Neenan, Song of the Anchorite by Jamar Roberts, and The Holy Blues by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar in collaboration with Samantha Figgins and Chalvar Monteiro. The season, programmed jointly by Ms. Graf Mack and Associate Artistic Director Matthew Rushing, will also feature the company premiere of Medhi Walerski's Blink of an Eye and a new production of Judith Jamison's A Case of You.

The milestone season raises the curtain on AILEY's next era under the leadership of new Artistic Director Alicia Graf Mack, the renowned dancer and educator, guided as ever by Alvin Ailey's pioneering legacy.  A star performer on the Ailey stage, where she enjoyed a spectacular career between 2005 and 2014, Ms. Graf Mack was brought into the Company and mentored by the incomparable Judith Jamison. After Ms. Graf Mack's retirement from performing, she went on to distinguish herself as the Dean and Director of the Dance Division of The Juilliard School. She now returns to AILEY as only the fourth Artistic Director in the Company's nearly 70-year history, going back to Alvin Ailey himself. (See Dance Magazine - Alicia Graf Mack Returns to Ailey as Its Fourth Artistic Director).

In the world premiere Jazz Island, the first work for AILEY by Maija García, a Caribbean folktale comes to life through ancestral rhythms and divine intervention. Inspired by Geoffrey Holder's “Black Gods, Green Islands” and featuring an original score by Etienne Charles, Jazz Island explores the spiritual dimensions of human drama and the connective force of love across the Afro-Caribbean diaspora.

Embrace by Fredrick Earl Mosley examines the ups and downs of human connections—messy, beautiful, and everything in between. Set to popular songs by Stevie Wonder, Kate Bush, Des'ree, Ed Sheeran, and P!nk, this world premiere explores what it takes to love deeply, heal fully, and embrace the journey with open arms.

Matthew Neenan makes his choreographic debut on the company with Difference Between, a world premiere featuring his signature wild abandon and gestural playfulness. In this world premiere, acclaimed singer and composer Heather Christian contributes her raw power to an intricate world of strange tensions, potent griefs, and quiet loves. 

In the world premiere Song of the Anchorite, renowned AILEY choreographer Jamar Roberts gives a fresh take on the 1961 solo Hermit Songs, Alvin Ailey's reaction to a set of medieval religious texts and the haunting song cycle by Samuel Barber that they inspired. The result is a powerful meditation on passion and devotion—both earthly and spiritual—danced to jazz trumpeter Avishai Cohen's interpretation of a Ravel adagio.

The Holy Blues—a season world premiere among Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Samantha Figgins, and Chalvar Monteiro—takes its title from Alvin Ailey's journal in which he wrote, “My roots are also in…the holy blues—paeans to joy, anthems to the human spirit.” The work is inspired by the Ring Shout and The Door of No Return. The soundtrack encompasses gospel music and the blues—the sacred and the secular—which serve as passages to the divine during times of trouble and strife.

In an intriguing piece that probes the relationship between dance and music, the company premiere Blink of an Eye by Medhi Walerski lays bare the interplay of strength and vulnerability inherent in the creative process. The timeless beauty of J.S. Bach's violin sonatas and partita anchors the athletic movement that is both precise and expansive. 

In a new production, the company revisits A Case of You, a sensual duet that was part of the 2005 work Reminiscin' by AILEY's second artistic director, Judith Jamison. This emotionally intense showstopper is danced to Diana Krall's sultry rendition of the classic song by Joni Mitchell.

Along with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's performances, Ailey II, the next generation of dance, is on a national tour with stops in Fresno, Malibu, Asheville, St. Louis and more cities in addition to their annual New York City season at The Joyce Theater March 17-22.

Ailey Extension will host beginner-friendly Ailey Experience dance workshops in select cities – including Atlanta, Washington DC, Houston, New Orleans, and Las Vegas – introducing participants ages 8–adult to the exciting world of choreography and the rich history of Mr. Ailey's signature style.

Aspiring dancers have the opportunity to audition for The Ailey School's 2026-27 academic programs and the 2026 summer intensive in several cities including New York, Atlanta, Silver Spring, MD, and Jacksonville, FL.

Throughout the tour, AILEY continues its mission of using dance to educate people of all ages through a variety of special activities, including master classes, student performances, lecture-demonstrations, innovative curriculum-based residencies for public school students, and AileyDance for Active Aging workshops for older adults, that advance Alvin Ailey's declared mission of bringing dance “back to the people.” The Revelations: An Interdisciplinary Approach residency uses Alvin Ailey's signature work as the inspirational framework for a comprehensive study of language arts, social studies, and dance. Led by Master Teacher and former Ailey star Nasha Thomas, the program actively engages participants in a process of reflecting, discussing, creating, performing, and assessing, while exploring the life story of Alvin Ailey and Revelations. Thomas will also lead Revelations Celebration Community Workshops, a popular, free opportunity for the public to join in the dance.

To help introduce young audiences to the timeless magic of Ailey, hour-long school-time performances moderated by one of the dancers will give students a peek behind the scenes into the world of dance and introduce a new generation to Alvin Ailey's timeless Revelations and Ronald K. Brown's masterwork Grace.

Ailey Arts In Education & Community Programs (AAIE), in collaboration with 92NY Dance Education Laboratory (DEL) and renowned choreographer Ronald K. Brown, recently announced the launch of the Finding Grace curriculum, a new dance residency program for K-12 utilizing Brown's masterwork, Grace, as an inspirational framework.

AileyCamp, the six-week summer program for ages 11–14 with classes in dance, personal development, creative communications and daily affirmations, extends beyond the summer session when participants experience one of the company's performances in nine different cities.  Four current members of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater—Solomon Dumas (Chicago), Sebastian Garcia (New York), Christopher Taylor (Newark), and De'Anthony Vaughan (Kansas City) —were introduced to dance through AileyCamp. AileyCamp 2026 details to be announced, here.