Matthew Rushing News

For over six decades, the Ailey organization has brought people together through dance performances and programs manifesting founder Alvin Ailey's belief that 'dance came from the people and that it should always be delivered back to the people.'

This Monday, May 4, was set to be Dance Against Cancer's 10th Anniversary Performance at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, which has now been postponed to October due to COVID-19. 

As California continues to remain a?oeSafer at Homea?? and follow social distancing guidelines, The Music Center announced today that its 32nd annual Music Center Spotlight Grand Finale (Spotlight) performance will take place as a virtual event and benefit, premiering on May 30, 2020, at 7:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time on The Music Center's website at musiccenter.org/spotlightfinale.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is continuing its a?oeAiley Revealeda?? season during a 21-city North American toura?"including a stop at the McCallum Theatre at 8:00pm, Wednesday, March 25. Led by artistic director Robert Battle, Ailey's 32 renowned dancers will elevate a legacy of innovation and excellence in artistry with diverse works by pre-eminent choreographers, including world premieres that shine a spotlight on social issues, new productions, returning favorites, and timeless treasures by Alvin Ailey. 

The Music Center named 113 of Southern California's most talented high school students as semifinalists in The Music Center's 32nd annual Spotlight (Spotlight) program, a free nationally acclaimed scholarship and arts training program for teens. Since its launch in 1988, Spotlight has transformed the lives of 49,000 students across Southern California by being more than just a competition. An important part of The Music Center's fundamental support for arts education, the arts training program provides students the opportunity to develop their performance abilities, learn about careers in arts management and receive valuable college preparedness and workforce readiness skills to pursue their dreams in the performing arts. This year, nearly 1,400 teens representing more than 260 schools, 198 cities and eight counties auditioned for the prestigious program.

Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center (Dance at The Music Center), programmed by TMC Arts, marks the return performances by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at The Music Center's Dorothy Chandler Pavilion from March 18-22, 2020.

Following five-weeks of exceptional performances in New York City, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will continue its “Ailey Revealed” season during a 21-city North American tour which kicks off during Black History Month. The 2020 engagement opens on February 4th at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. with a gala to benefit Ailey's D.C. programs, including the creation of new works, Arts-In-Education activities, and scholarships to talented young area dancers to attend The Ailey School in New York. Other major cities throughout the tour include Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Seattle, Houston, and Boston, culminating with a Mother's Day performance in Newark on May 10th.

On Tuesday, December 17th Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater reveals the company premiere of Camille A. Brown's City of Rain. This quietly lyrical piece honors the struggles and grace of a deceased friend, showing a different facet of the choreographer than Ailey audiences have seen in her previous works for the Company. Dedicated to Greg 'Blyes' Boomer, the work for 10 dancers is set to an original composition by Jonathan Melville Pratt entitled Two Way Dream. A recipient of numerous honors, including a 2014 Bessie Award for Outstanding Production for the work Mr. TOL. E. RAncE (Camille A. Brown & Dancers), Ms. Brown choreographed Broadway's Choir Boy (TONY nominee for Best Choreography), the TONY Award-winning revival of Once On This Island, and the Emmy Award-winning television special, Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert. [There are five more chances to see City of Rain this season: Dec. 20 eve, 21 eve, 27 eve, Jan. 1 eve, 5 mat.]

On Tuesday, December 10th, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater continues its holiday season with a celebration of The Ailey School's 50th anniversary, honoring its standard of excellence for providing exceptional training to more than 3,500 students annually. This special evening features students performing alongside the Company in Alvin Ailey's Memoria and Revelations.

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.

The New Jersey Ballet joins the Centenary Stage Company for the 2019-20 season with two performances. On Saturday, November 2 at 8:00 pm the New Jersey Ballet will present an All American Evening and on Sunday, November 3 at 3:00 pm with the family favorite Hansel & Gretal. Both performances will be held in the Sitnik Theatre of the Lackland Performing Arts Center at 715 Grand Ave. Hackettstown, NJ.

The New Jersey Ballet joins the Centenary Stage Company for the 2019-20 season with two performances. On Saturday, November 2 at 8:00 pm the New Jersey Ballet will present an All American Evening and on Sunday, November 3 at 3:00 pm with the family favorite Hansel & Gretel. Both performances will be held in the Sitnik Theatre of the Lackland Performing Arts Center at 715 Grand Ave. Hackettstown, NJ.

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.

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.

Shimmy into summer at Ailey with a variety of exciting workshops, classes and more for movers of all ages and experience levels. As temperatures rise, Ailey Extension opens its doors for novice and professional students alike to refine their technique, learn from the city's top instructors, connect with others in the NYC dance community, and have an unforgettable experience with the Ailey legacy all summer long at the Joan Weill Center for Dance - home of the world-renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, and The Ailey School.

The 2019 Bard SummerScape festival presents a pair of important new dance and theater works next month. On July 5-7, Evidence, A Dance Company and its founder and artistic director, Ronald K. Brown, make their festival debut with the world premiere of Grace and Mercy. A new SummerScape commission, this two-part program pairs Grace (live), a 20th-anniversary version of Brown's soulful masterpiece Grace, now danced entirely to live music performed by Peven Everett, Gordon Chambers, and others, with the world premiere of Mercy, Brown's new companion piece, which is set to a brand-new score written and performed live by ten-time Grammy-nominee Meshell Ndegeocello.

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.

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.