What’s Kept Vernard Gilmore Thriving at Ailey for 25 Years
2022 marks 25 years at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and the veteran dancer says he’s still excited to get onstage each season.
The Summer That Shaped Me: 5 Dancers Share Their Intensive Stories
While some dancers return year after year to the same beloved summer intensive, others travel the globe seeking novel ways of moving. Aspiring dancers can find myriad possibilities for their summer months, and with so many choices, such varied costs and so much competition, summer study can be tough to navigate. Dance Magazine asked five […]
Ailey's New Choreography Unlocked Festival Focuses on the Choreographic Process
Coming this fall to the ever-expanding Ailey organization is an intriguing new event: the Choreography Unlocked festival. From Oct. 12–14 and 26–28, the Joan Weill Center for Dance will host workshops, performances and panel discussions. It is an extension of Ailey’s New Directions Choreography Lab, an annual residency fellowship for four emerging and mid-career choreographers, […]
Ailey Dancers Put On The Most Joyous Labor Rally Yesterday
“The sun may be shining brightly, but we are not in a very sunny mood today!” said New York State assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal during yesterday’s rally for the Artists of Ailey. The dancers and stage crew are demanding increased wages and more comprehensive benefits, what they have termed “reaching for the standard” and “fair wages.” […]
Camille A. Brown Choreographs Once On This Island, Her First Broadway Musical
“Should I watch it to get a sense of what happened, or should I go with my own vision and understanding of the culture?” That’s what choreographer Camille A. Brown was wondering in June, when she started work on the Broadway revival of the Antilles-themed musical Once on This Island. The 1990 show, directed originally […]
Meet The Ailey Dancer With A Side Gig Designing His Coworkers' Wedding Dresses
It’s widely known how jam-packed an Ailey dancer’s schedule is: the company averages between 175 and 200 performances each year. So it’s hard to imagine that these artists have time for anything else. Impressively, eight-year AAADT dancer Jermaine Terry has somehow maintained a second career in costume and clothing design. From wedding dresses to one-of-a […]
Ailey Dancers Unite—And Boycott Their Own Gala
Everything was not business as usual at Tuesday’s Kennedy Center gala for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The party was missing an integral piece of the annual celebration: the dancers themselves. The news was shared online yesterday via the Washington Post, which reports that the dancers are in the middle of renegotiating a three-year contract […]
You'd Never Know It Now, But These 3 Pros Bombed Their Early Auditions
In dance, no two paths look the same, and part of a healthy audition mind-set is accepting that you might not get what you want on the first try. These three dancers who auditioned multiple times for their dream gig share what made the difference in getting to the final cut. Misa Kuranaga, principal dancer, […]