Ailey Opens Two-Week Lincoln Center Season With One-Night-Only Ailey Spirit Gala on June 10th
Company:
ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER
AILEY OPENS TWO-WEEK LINCOLN CENTER SEASON WITH ONE-NIGHT-ONLY AILEY SPIRIT GALA ON JUNE 10th; BENEFIT PROCEEDS SUPPORT SCHOLARSHIPS AND ARTS IN EDUCATION PROGRAMS FOR AREA STUDENTS
Gala Benefit sponsored by FedEx features Tyson Beckford as Honorary Chair and honors Ford Foundation
Rising stars of Ailey II, The Ailey School and AileyCamp join Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater on David H. Koch Theater stage followed by dance party with musical stylings of DJ M.O.S.
(NEW YORK, NY) May 6, 2015 – Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s two-week spring engagement at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater kicks off on Wednesday, June 10th with The Ailey Spirit Gala, a one-night-only benefit performance and party honoring the Ford Foundation.
The second annual Ailey Spirit Gala benefit performance at 7pm includes the world-renowned Ailey dancers in excerpts of Matthew Rushing’s ODETTA and in Robert Battle’s Takademe. The rising stars of Ailey II will perform an excerpt of Manuel Vignoulle’s Breakthrough, gifted young dancers from The Ailey School (ages 6 to 23) will showcase their talents and the breadth of the program’s training in a yet to be titled work, and talented students from AileyCamp will perform a work inspired by Christopher Huggins’ Anointed. An expanded cast of the present and future stars of Ailey will come together for a memorable finale of Alvin Ailey’s timeless Revelations. Following the performance, a dance party on the promenade will be driven by the musical stylings of deejay to the stars, DJ M.O.S.
The benefit, sponsored by FedEx, features supermodel and actor Tyson Beckford as Honorary Chair. Gala Co-Chairs are Gina F. Adams, Ricki Lander, Almaz & Marc S. Strachan, and Daria L. & Eric J. Wallach. Gala Vice Chairs are Michele & Timothy Barakett, Dr. N. Anthony & Robyn Coles, Leslie & Tom Maheras, and Pamela D. Zilly & John H. Schaefer.
Attendees, including confirmed celebrity guests Omari Hardwick, Naturi Naughton, Condola Rashad and Tituss Burgess, will have the opportunity to witness the impact of their charitable giving firsthand as Ailey’s talented young students take the stage. Gala proceeds support scholarships to The Ailey School and Ailey’s Arts In Education & Community Programs—including AileyCamp, an innovative, full-scholarship summer program that uses the art of dance as a means to help young people stretch their minds, bodies and spirits. In all, these programs serve more than 100,000 young people annually. For more information on benefit tickets starting at $500 call 212-405-9031.
Led by Artistic Director Robert Battle, Ailey’s 15-performance engagement runs through June 21st and includes the world premiere of Exodus by bold hip-hop choreographer Rennie Harris, new productions of Talley Beatty’s Toccata and Judith Jamison’s A Case of You, and the Company premiere of Robert Battle’s No Longer Silent. For further information, and to purchase tickets starting at $25, please visit www.alvinailey.org.
The Ailey Spirit Gala is sponsored by FedEx.
Wine and spirits for The Ailey Spirit Gala are generously provided by Diageo.
The 2014-2015 season is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
CALENDAR LISTING INFORMATION
On June 10th, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater launches a two-week, 15-performance engagement at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater with the second annual Ailey Spirit Gala. The gala benefit, honoring the Ford Foundation, features the present and future stars of Ailey and Honorary Chair Tyson Beckford. The performances begins at 7pm and includes Washington Heights and Newark AileyCampers, talented students from The Ailey School, rising stars of Ailey II, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performing excerpts of Matthew Rushing’s ODETTA, as well as Robert Battle’s Takademe and Revelations with an expanded cast. A soirée follows on the promenade, featuring the musical stylings of deejay to the stars, DJ M.O.S. For benefit tickets starting at $500 call 212-405-9031. Tickets for performances through June 21st start at $25 and are available at www.alvinailey.org.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
June 10–21, 2015 at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater
20 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY (Columbus Avenue at 63rd Street)
(212) 496-0600 / www.alvinailey.org / www.lincolncenter.org
Programming – Subject to Change
Wednesday, 6/10 – 7:00pm – The Ailey Spirit Gala – performances by Ailey Camp, The Ailey School, Ailey II, and
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, including Revelations
Thursday, 6/11 – 7:30pm Toccata, After the Rain Pas de Deux / Exodus / Revelations
Friday, 6/12 – 8:00pm ODETTA / Suspended Women, In/Side* / Revelations
*Saturday, 6/13 – 2:00pm Toccata, After the Rain Pas de Deux / Exodus / Revelations
*Family Matinee - followed by a Post-Performance Q&A session with the dancers
Saturday, 6/13 – 8:00pm Bad Blood / Uprising / ODETTA
Sunday, 6/14 – 3:00pm ODETTA / Bad Blood / Revelations
Sunday, 6/14 – 7:30pm Toccata, After the Rain Pas de Deux / Exodus / Revelations
Tuesday, 6/16 – 7:30pm Chroma / Grace / Takademe, Revelations
Wednesday, 6/17 – 7:30pm Night Creature, A Case of You / No Longer Silent / Revelations
Thursday, 6/18 – 7:30pm Chroma / Grace / Takademe, Revelations
Friday, 6/19 – 8:00pm Exodus / Suspended Women, Takademe* / Revelations
*Saturday, 6/20 – 2:00pm Toccata, After the Rain Pas de Deux / Exodus / Revelations
*Family Matinee - followed by a Post-Performance Q&A session with the dancers
Saturday, 6/20 – 8:00pm Night Creature, A Case of You / No Longer Silent / Revelations
Sunday, 6/21 – 3:00pm Bad Blood / Uprising / ODETTA
Sunday, 6/21 – 7:30pm Exodus, Strange Humors* / No Longer Silent / Revelations
ABOUT ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, recognized by U.S. Congressional resolution as a vital American “Cultural Ambassador to the World,” grew from a now‐fabled March 1958 performance in New York that forever changed the perception of American dance. Founded by Alvin Ailey, and guided by Judith Jamison beginning in 1989, the Company is now led by Robert Battle, whom Judith Jamison chose to succeed her on July 1, 2011. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has performed for an estimated 23 million people in 71 countries on 6 continents, promoting the uniqueness of the African‐American cultural experience and the preservation and enrichment of the American modern dance tradition. In addition to being the Principal Dance Company of New York City Center, where its performances have become a year‐end tradition, the Ailey company performs annually at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami‐Dade County in Miami, The Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, CA and at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark (where it is the Principal Resident Affiliate), and appears frequently in other major theaters throughout the United States and the world during extensive yearly tours. The Ailey organization also includes Ailey II (1974), a second performing company of emerging young dancers and innovative choreographers; The Ailey School (1969), one of the most extensive dance training programs in the world; Ailey Arts in Education & Community Programs, which bring dance into the classrooms, communities and lives of people of all ages; and The Ailey Extension (2005), a program offering dance and fitness classes to the general public, which coincided with the opening of Ailey’s permanent home—the largest building dedicated to dance in New York City, the dance capital of the world —named The Joan Weill Center for Dance, at 55th Street at 9th Avenue in New York City. For more information, visit www.alvinailey.org.
Photo: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Jacqueline Green and Kirven Douthit-Boyd at Fox Theatre Atlanta.
Copyright: Richard Calmes 2014
