THE AILEY SPIRIT GALA FIRST-EVER GLOBAL BROADCAST
THURSDAY, JUNE 11 AT 7:30PM ET
Still, We Dance Virtual Benefit Made Possible by WarnerMedia Presents Eternity Premiere with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Rising Stars of Ailey II, The Ailey School and AileyCamp
Gala Performance with Special Guests and Party with DJ D-Nice and Ms. Nix Supports Ailey’s Offerings for Young People, Free Online Programming and Preparing for Season Celebrating 60 Years of Revelations
New York – May 26, 2020 – The Ailey organization is proud to continue its mission of using dance to uplift and unite all people with the first-ever Ailey Spirit Gala global broadcast on Thursday, June 11 at 7:30pm ET featuring the incomparable Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, the rising stars of Ailey II, gifted young dancers from The Ailey School and talented students from AileyCamp, along with special guest appearances.
The virtual celebration is made possible through the generous support of WarnerMedia, a leading media and entertainment company that creates and distributes premium and popular content from a diverse array of talented storytellers and journalists to global audiences. Gala Co-Chairs are Joy Allen-Altimare, Michele & Timothy Barakett, Pascal Desroches, Lucinda Martinez, Stephen Meringoff, Daria L. & Eric J. Wallach and Dennis Williams; and Vice Chairs are Jaishri & Vikas Kapoor and Leslie & Tom Maheras.
Unable to welcome audiences into the theater at this time, the organization is instead reaching out to share the Ailey spirit with a one-of-a-kind presentation that will be a highlight of Ailey All Access online programming inspiring millions around the world. Dancers and students from all parts of the organization will join in a special piece d’occasion choreographed by Ailey II Artistic Director Troy Powell entitled Eternity – a ballet that celebrates the enduring human spirit in the context of the current global pandemic while painting a portrait of Ailey’s past, present, and future. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will come together while apart for a memorable finale paying homage to Alvin Ailey’s American masterpiece, Revelations. A festive online soirée after party will invite everyone to join in the dance with music by DJ D-Nice and Ms. Nix. For updated information, visit alvinailey.org/ailey-spirit-gala.
The Ailey Spirit Gala raises funds to support important programs for young people, like scholarships to The Ailey School and Ailey’s Arts In Education & Community Programs, including AileyCamp – an innovative, full-scholarship summer day camp that uses dance as a means to help inner-city youth stretch their minds, bodies, and spirits. Proceeds will also move Ailey forward during this challenging time with the Still, We Dance campaign, which helps the organization offer a variety of free programming through Ailey All Access and prepare for the upcoming 2020-21 season paying tribute to six decades of Revelations.
Ahead of the global broadcast and as a part of Ailey All Access, an online initiative that has been offering free online performances, classes and more, there will be the streaming premiere of a 2015 film of an Ailey at Lincoln Center performance (in conjunction with the new Lincoln Center at Home portal) on June 4 at 8pm. In addition to the soul-stirring Revelations, described by The New York Times as “one of the great works of the human spirit,” this electrifying program features Wayne McGregor’s sumptuous Chroma, set to a score by Joby Talbot with orchestrations of songs by The White Stripes; Ronald K. Brown’s Grace, a powerful meeting of modern and West African dance with a soundtrack by Duke Ellington, Roy Davis, and Fela Kuti; and Robert Battle’s humorous, high-flying Takademe.
For additional updates and to enjoy The Ailey Spirit Gala global broadcast and other digital content, visit Ailey All Access and follow Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater on Facebook and Instagram.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Alvin Ailey’s Revelations. Photo by Paul Kolnik
Ailey dancers performing ‘I Been ‘Buked’ from Alvin Ailey’s Revelations. Photo courtesy of Ailey
The Ailey School’s Professional Division students in Troy Powell’s Testimony. Photo by Nan Melville.
The Ailey Spirit Gala is sponsored by WarnerMedia
Ailey Spirit Gala Sponsors: Diageo and EHE Health.
Bank of America is Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s National Tour Sponsor.
The 2020 National Tour is supported, in part, by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s production of Revelations, Chroma, Grace, and Takademe for Lincoln Center at the Movies: Great American Dance is supported by a grant from the Howard Gilman Foundation.
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 – as well as millions more through television broadcasts, film screenings, and online platforms – 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.
About WarnerMedia
WarnerMedia is a leading media and entertainment company that creates and distributes premium and popular content from a diverse array of talented storytellers and journalists to global audiences through its consumer brands including: HBO, HBO Now, HBO Max, Warner Bros., TNT, TBS, truTV, CNN, DC Entertainment, New Line, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies and others. WarnerMedia is part of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T)