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THE AILEY SPIRIT GALA BENEFIT SUPPORTS SCHOLARSHIPS AND Gala Benefit Honors Stephen Meringoff, Welcomes Actor André Holland as Honorary Chair Rising Stars of Ailey II, The Ailey School and AileyCamp join Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater on the Stage, Plus a Live Performance of Moonlight x Ailey – An Homage to the Academy Award-Winning Film David H. Koch Theater Performance Followed by Dance Party with Musical Stylings of DJ M.O.S. |
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| (NEW YORK, NY) May 25, 2017 – The centerpiece of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Lincoln Center engagement is The Ailey Spirit Gala on Thursday, June 15th. This one-night-only benefit performance and party honors Ailey Board Vice Chairman Stephen Meringoff for his longtime support of Ailey, and his instrumental role in strengthening and sustaining AileyCamp. Critically-acclaimed actor André Holland, who most recently appeared in the eight-time Oscar-nominated film Moonlight, has just been announced as Honorary Chair. Holland will be seen in the upcoming Ava DuVernay film A Wrinkle in Time and Hulu’s Castle Rock, produced by J.J. Abrams.
Guests will be treated to a one-time-only live performance of Moonlight x Ailey, which will bring to life the dance film short choreographed by Artistic Director Robert Battle as an homage to the Academy Award-winning film. Set to Nicholas Britell’s acclaimed score, the work features Ailey dancer Jamar Roberts and The Ailey School students Jeremy T. Villas and Christopher Taylor, who is also a former AileyCamper. The evening will include the incomparable Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the rising stars of Ailey II in an excerpt of Bridget L. Moore’s Sketches of Flames, gifted young dancers from The Ailey School showcasing their talents and the breadth of the program’s training in a new work, and talented students from AileyCamp performing a new work by Noibis Licea entitled Guardian Angels Modupue, with original music by Matthew Hill. An expanded cast of the present and future stars of Ailey will come together for a memorable finale of Alvin Ailey’s masterpiece, Revelations. A soirée on the promenade follows with dancing to the musical stylings of DJ M.O.S. Attendees will see the impact of their charitable giving firsthand as Ailey’s talented students take the stage. The Ailey Spirit Gala has already raised a record-breaking $1.2 million to support scholarships to The Ailey School and Ailey’s Arts In Education & Community Programs – including AileyCamp, an innovative, full-scholarship summer program that uses dance as a means to help young people stretch their minds, bodies and spirits. Gala Co-Chairs are Lynne and Anthony M. Carvette, Almaz & Marc S. Strachan, and Daria L. & Eric J. Wallach; and Vice Chairs are Michele & Timothy Barakett, Dr. N. Anthony & Robyn Coles, Jaishri & Vikas Kapoor, Ricki Lander, Leslie & Tom Maheras, Pamela D. Zilly & John H. Schaefer. For benefit tickets visit alvinailey.org/ailey-spirit-gala or call 212-405-9031. For more information on Ailey’s Lincoln Center engagement from June 14 – 18, click here. Tickets for season performances start at $25, and can be purchased at the David H. Koch Box Office, by phone at 212-496-0600, or online at www.alvinailey.org. |
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| Left to right: AAADT’s Glenn Allen Sims and Rachael McLaren. Photo by Andrew Eccles; André Holland at Opening Night Gala 2015. Photo by Dario Calmese, Jr.; AAADT in Alvin Ailey’s Revelations with an expanded cast. Photo by Christopher Duggan. Ctrl + Click for hi-res download. Please credit photos. | ||
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Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater gratefully acknowledges the support of Diageo. Delta Air Lines is the Official Airline of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s New York Spring Season. The 2017 spring 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.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Programming – Subject to Change Musical Inspirations: The Winter in Lisbon / Mass / Ella, Revelations The Ailey Spirit Gala: Performances by AileyCamp, The Ailey School, Ailey II & Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, incl. Revelations Global Voices: Deep / Walking Mad / Revelations Bold Visions r-Evolution, Dream. / Untitled America / Revelations *Family Matinee – followed by a post-performance Q&A session with the dancers
CALENDAR LISTING INFORMATION Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, beloved as one of the world’s most popular dance companies, will present a 7-performance engagement at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater June 14 – 18. Led by Artistic Director Robert Battle, Ailey’s acclaimed dancers will perform a diverse repertory by seven choreographers featuring recent premieres and the Company debut of Battle’s ensemble work Mass. In addition to Mass, performed to live music, the Musical Inspirations program celebrates jazz legends during their centennials with Billy Wilson’s The Winter in Lisbon, a tribute to Dizzy Gillespie, and Robert Battle’s Ella, set to Ella Fitzgerald’s “Airmail Special.” Global Voices includes dynamic pieces by European choreographers Mauro Bigonzetti (Deep, with music by Ibeyi) and Johan Inger (Walking Mad, a daring take on Ravel’s Bolero). Bold Visions shines a spotlight on society with Hope Boykins’ r-Evolution, Dream., inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Kyle Abraham’s Untitled America, examining the impact of incarceration on African-American families. Each program closes with an uplifting Revelations finale. The season opens with a FREE Jazz Dance Class on the Plaza on Wednesday, June 14 at 6pm. The Ailey Spirit Gala benefit performance on Thursday, June 15 features the Ailey dancers, and appearances by the rising stars of Ailey II, gifted dancers from The Ailey School, and talented students from AileyCamp, followed by a soirée on the promenade. Performance tickets starting at $25 are on sale and can be purchased at the David H. Koch Box Office, by phone at 212-496-0600, or online at www.alvinailey.org. Student tickets may be available on the day of the performance for $15 at the box office with a valid student ID (one per student – subject to availability). On Saturday, June 17, bring the whole family to enjoy the matinee and stay afterward for a free Q&A with the Ailey dancers in the theater. Additional discounts for groups of 10 or more are now available by phone 212-405-9082 or e-mail [email protected]. For further information about Ailey’s performances, please visit www.alvinailey.org. 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 changed forever the perception of American dance. Founded by Alvin Ailey, recent posthumous recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the nation’s highest civilian honor, 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 25 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, the 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 brings 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 began 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. ### |
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