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What Does It Take to Put on an Ailey Performance? We Spent a Day With Their Production Stage Manager

Kristin Colvin Young backstage at the Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen. Photo by Danica Paulos, Courtesy AAADT

Watch any performance by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and it's impossible to deny the level of passion onstage.

But offstage, just past the wings, there's another woman who's passionately at work, clad in black and wearing a headset: Kristin Colvin Young, the company's production stage manager.

After studying dance and sociology at Mount Holyoke College, she joined the company in 2000, as assistant stage manager, and has been an integral part of the Ailey family ever since. While Young's job involves the responsibilities that immediately come to mind when you think of stage management—like calling the lights and sound during shows—her role encompasses everything from prepping casting inserts for programs to finalizing rehearsal schedules to giving preshow audience announcements as the "Voice of God."

During a recent tour stop in Copenhagen, Denmark, Young documented what a typical performance day entails.

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Playlists

The Songs Your Favorite Dance Artists Can't Stop Listening To

The most-played song on your Spotify says a lot about you. Maybe it's that guilty pleasure track you dance to while you're in the kitchen, or the one you have to listen to before going onstage.

We talked to 10 of our favorite pros about the song that's racked up the most plays on their phones—whether it's one they teach to, cross-train to, or just a song that helps them escape.

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News

News of Note: What You May Have Missed in July 2019

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Jamar Roberts. Photo by Andrew Eccles, Courtesy Ailey

Here are the latest promotions, appointments and transfers, plus notable awards and accomplishments from the last month.

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Health & Body

Is Your Pre-Show Ritual Uninspired? Take A Cue From These 12 Pros

Quinn Wharton for Pointe

We know there are certain things dancers can do pre-show to help them perform at their best. (Like warming up, eating something energizing and maybe even taking a nap!)

But pre-show routines are also highly individual, and involve artists preparing their heads for performance just as much as their bodies. That could mean anything from listening to a favorite song, bonding with cast members or meditating.

Feeling like your pre-show ritual could use a bit of inspiration? These 12 pros shared their tried-and-true routines with us:

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News

Alvin Ailey Is Getting the Full Hollywood Treatment

Alvin Ailey. Photo by Normand Maxon, Courtesy AAADT

Here's some Monday news to rock your soul: An upcoming Fox Searchlight film about the life of Alvin Ailey just got even more enticing—Barry Jenkins, the filmmaker who won an Oscar for Moonlight, has signed on as director.

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Dancers Trending

What These 9 Stars Would Be Doing If They Weren't Dancers

It can be hard to imagine life without—or just after—dance. Perhaps that's why we find it so fascinating to hear what our favorite dancers think they'd be doing if they weren't performing for a living.

We've been asking stars about the alternate career they'd like to try in our "Spotlight" Q&A series, and their answers—from the unexpected to the predictable—do not disappoint:

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What Wendy's Watching

Ailey Celebrates 60 Years with Thrilling New Works

The Call by Ronald K. Brown marks the choreographer's seventh work for Ailey. Photo by Paul Kolnik, courtesy Ailey

It's the 60th anniversary of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and their season at New York City Center is going strong with more than 20 works—including world premieres and company premieres.

Ronald K. Brown, who just received a Dance Magazine Award, has made his seventh work for Ailey, The Call. It's a gorgeous pastiche of three different types of music: Bach, jazz by singer Mary Lou Williams and Malian music by Asase Yaa Entertainment Group.

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Spotlight

Why This Ailey Dancer Dreams of Dancing with Ellen DeGeneres

Jamar Roberts in Talley Beatty's Stack-Up. Photo by Paul Kolnik, courtesy Ailey

Jamar Roberts has long been one of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's most thrilling performers, bringing his sinuous power to whatever the company's wide-ranging repertory throws at him. Last season, Roberts' own movement became a part of that repertory: His blues-inspired Members Don't Get Weary, set to the music of John Coltrane, received rave reviews, and returns this week as part of the company's 60th Anniversary season at New York City Center.

We caught up with Roberts for our "Spotlight" series:

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Dancers Trending

12 Dance Stars Share the Worst Advice They Ever Received

Whoever told Emma Portner not to move to NYC probably feels silly now. Photo by Quinn Wharton

Raise your hand if you've received bad advice from well-meaning friends or family (or strangers, tbh) who don't know anything about what it really takes to be a dancer.

*everyone raises hands*

Sometimes it's even dance insiders whose advice can send you down the wrong path. We've been asking pros about the worst advice they've ever received in our "Spotlight" Q&A series, and rounded up some of the best answers:

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News

Ailey's New Choreography Unlocked Festival Focuses on the Choreographic Process

Jawole Willa Jo Zollar "is an artist who understands how to pull things out to find the essence of a work," says Robert Battle. Here, Zollar in the studio with Ailey dancers. Photo by Erica Hochstedler, Courtesy AAADT

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, founded by artistic director Robert Battle in 2011.

Cameron McKinney working with students at The Ailey School through the New Directions Choreography Lab. Photo by Nicole Tintle, Courtesy AAADT

The festival offers a rare experience for choreographers to work collectively on their craft, and for students and public audiences to interact firsthand with the process of creating dance. "Choreographers tend to section off on their own, so I wanted to offer classes for them to come together and vibe off each other," says Battle. He also hopes to demystify the choreographic process for audiences.

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What Wendy's Watching

Women Choreographers Rule at Ailey Next Week

Jawole Willa Jo Zollar's Shelter addresses homelessness. Photo by Paul Kolnik, Courtesy Ailey

Just in time for its summer season at Lincoln Center, the dancers and management of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater have settled their issues surrounding the performers' union contracts. Now that they've reached a new collective bargaining agreement, the dancers can sail into this weeklong season of nine ballets. (Well, maybe not sail, since this is some of the hardest repertory on earth.)


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News

Ailey Dancers Put On The Most Joyous Labor Rally Yesterday

Ailey dancers and stagehands rallied together yesterday. Photo by Jen Peters

"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."

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News

New York City Center's Anniversary Season Is Gonna Be Epic

New York City Center just announced programming for the 2018-19 season, and we're frantically marking our calendars for all the must-see dance. This year is the venue's 75th anniversary, and they're pulling out all the stops—from the reliable fan favorite Fall for Dance to the most epic Balanchine celebration and more:

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Broadway

Camille A. Brown Choreographs Once On This Island, Her First Broadway Musical

Dancers in rehearsal for Once On This Island; PC Joan Marcus. Courtesy Boneau/Bryan-Brown

"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.

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Breaking Stereotypes

Meet The Ailey Dancer With A Side Gig Designing His Coworkers' Wedding Dresses

Jermaine Terry working on fellow Ailey dancer Sarah Daley-Perdomo's dress while on tour in Frankfurt, Germany. Courtesy Terry

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 kind evening gowns for Ailey galas, the self-taught designer is inspired by the challenge.

What He Has To Say: Terry gave Dance Magazine the scoop on how, in the words of Project Runway's Tim Gunn, he is able to "make it work."

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News

3 Reasons We're Ecstatic That Alvin Ailey's Life and Work Are Being Made into a Movie

Alvin Ailey's life and groundbreaking work are coming to the big screen. Photo courtesy Ailey Archives.

There must be something in the water: Last week, we announced that Madonna is directing Michaela DePrince's upcoming biopic. And yesterday, we got wind of another major dance film: According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox Searchlight has sealed the deal to make Ailey Ailey's life and work into a movie. Yes, please.

While some movies falter along their way to the big screen, we think this one's got legs (and hopefully a whole lot of lateral T's and hinges and coccyx balances, too). Why?

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News

Ailey Dancers Unite—And Boycott Their Own Gala

Ailey Dancers. Photo by Andrew Eccles, Courtesy Ailey

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 with their union, the American Guild of Musical Artists.

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In The Studio

In The Studio: Robert Battle on What It Means to Take a Stand

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater rehearsing Robert Battle's Mass.

In a sun-soaked studio in New York City, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater prepares for their 21-city North American tour beginning January 30. We caught up with artistic director Robert Battle to discuss his work Mass and how the tradition of modern dance has always been connected to social justice.

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Training

What It's Like to Take Class From Judith Jamison

Judith Jamison Workshop Celebrating Alvin Ailey. Photo by Tiba Vieira

When you're offered a chance to take a class with Judith Jamison, you don't say no.

The company's beloved artistic director emerita rarely teaches open classes. But to celebrate the legacy of Alvin Ailey on what would have been his 87th birthday, she gave a special two-hour workshop at the Ailey Extension on Friday night. I had to try it, even though I was desperately hoping that she wouldn't make us do any Horton coccyx balances. (Spoiler alert: She did.)

So what's it like to take class with the larger-than-life icon?

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25 to Watch

25 to Watch 2018: Jeroboam Bozeman

Bozeman (left) in Rennie Harris' Exodus. Photo by Paul Kolnik, Courtesy Ailey

It's the contrasts that set Jeroboam Bozeman apart. In a New York minute, his movements may jump from sharp and distinct to gracefully fluid. Bozeman defies labels; you're not sure if you're watching a ballet dancer, a modern dancer or (one of his favorite styles) a West African dancer.

Equally impressive is his offstage persistence: He auditioned for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater five times before he was offered a place in Ailey II. A year later, in 2013, he finally joined the main company.

He describes dancing as "liberating," a quality evident when he's onstage—he's so present that you wish you were up there with him. "The more honest I am in my dancing," he says, "the more relatable it will be to people."


Find out who else made Dance Magazine's "25 to Watch" list this year.

What Wendy's Watching

What Wendy's Watching: Jamar Roberts' New Piece for Ailey

Jamar Roberts, PC Paul Kolnik

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Jamar Roberts, one of the most riveting of dancers anywhere, is making a new piece for the season that is now in full swing at New York City Center.

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