Earl “Snakehips” Tucker was an African American dancer and entertainer. Also known as the “Human Boa Constrictor”, he acquired the nickname “snakehips” via the dance he popularized in Harlem in the 1920s called the “snakehips” Continue reading
Morgan Freeman introduces honoree Judith Jamison at the 22nd Kennedy Center Honors in 1999. Continue reading
Today, January 5 is the 94th birthday of choreographer Alvin Ailey. O&A NYC shares rare video footage from a 1985 interview. The one-way dialogue between Alvin Ailey, founder of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater took place in Cairo, Egypt. (Note: We only hear Ailey’s answers; not questions asked). He talks about his life, his dance school, the motivational forces behind his choreography and theories of dance. Continue reading
Interim Artistic Director Matthew Rushing premiered his fifth ballet, Sacred Songs, for the Alvin Ailey American dance Theater (AAADT) on December 20, 2024. Today Friday, January 3, is the last opportunity this season to see this new work which uses the deleted music from the original production of Revelations. Continue reading
Nureyev- Ballet’s Most Incredible Story is a striking and moving documentary from BAFTA nominated directors Jacqui and David Morris traces the extraordinary life of Rudolf Nureyev. From his birth in the 5th class carriage of a trans-Siberian train, to his dramatic leap to freedom in the West at the height of the Cold War, and unprecedented adulation as the most famous dancer in the world. Continue reading
Alte Zachen, Choreography by Nadav Zelner featuring dancers Réginald Lefebvre and Alessio Marchini set to Howard A. Robert renowned arrangement of Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham with costumes by Ofir Hazan.Ofir Continue reading
By Walter Rutledge
The 2024 Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s (AAADT’s) New York City Center fall season presented four premieres by two former company members Hope Boykin and Jamal Roberts, master choreographer Lar Lubovitch, and AAADT Associate Artistic Director Matthew Rushing. Rushing’s Sacred Songs, an ensemble work with an interesting twist, is set to the music edited from the original version of Alvin Ailey’s and AAADT’s signature work Revelations. Sacred Songs it made its debut on December 20th, was the last of the four new works to premiere, and it was worth the wait. Continue reading
By Walter Rutledge
Happy Birthday Joan Myers Brown! The nonagenarian dance icon was born on Christmas Day ninety three years ago in her beloved Philadelphia. Even as a child Brown understood the disparities between American of African decent and the local whites; and she wanted to shatter the social barriers prohibiting her people from becoming famous in the world of dance. In 1960 Brown established the Philadelphia School of Dance. The school was so successful she formed a dance company in 1970. Now fifty four years later the Philadelphia Dance Company aka Philadanco and Joan Myers Brown are world renowned. Below is a 2019 article prior to Brown receiving the 2019 New York Dance and Performance Award for Lifetime Achievement in Dance, and video conversation with Brown and dance scholar Brenda Dixon Gottschild.
“Happy Birthday Aunt Joan”
Love,
Walter Continue reading
By Walter Rutledge
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is now halfway through their 66th New York season at New York City Center. In the 18 remaining performances this season, which runs until January 5, the company will present 19 works by 12 choreographers. The fall/winter Ailey season has become one of New York City’s annual holiday traditions. Continue reading
During the 1977 Christmas season, CBS brought Mikhail Baryshnikov’s highly acclaimed American Ballet Theatre production of Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet The Nutcracker to television. The production has remains the most popular and most often shown television production of the work in the U.S. Mikhail Baryshnikov performed the title role, with Gelsey Kirkland as Clara.
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This dynamic showcase—described as an “extravaganza” by curator Adrienne Edwards—brings together visual art, live performance, music, a range of archival materials, and a multi-screen video installation drawn from recordings of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) repertory to explore the full range of Ailey’s personal and creative life. 
The Brooklyn Museum, in partnership with the National Gallery of Art, closes this gap with Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist and All That It Implies, an exhibition of over 200 works that gives this revolutionary artist and radical activist her due. The Brooklyn Museum, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art and Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing, 4th Floor This dynamic showcase—described as an “extravaganza” by curator Adrienne Edwards—brings together visual art, live performance, music, a range of archival materials, and a multi-screen video installation drawn from recordings of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) repertory to explore the full range of Ailey’s personal and creative life. The Brooklyn Museum, in partnership with the National Gallery of Art, closes this gap with Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist and All That It Implies, an exhibition of over 200 works that gives this revolutionary artist and radical activist her due. The Brooklyn Museum, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art and Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing, 4th Floor This dynamic showcase—described as an “extravaganza” by curator Adrienne Edwards—brings together visual art, live performance, music, a range of archival materials, and a multi-screen video installation drawn from recordings of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) repertory to explore the full range of Ailey’s personal and creative life. The Brooklyn Museum, in partnership with the National Gallery of Art, closes this gap with Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist and All That It Implies, an exhibition of over 200 works that gives this revolutionary artist and radical activist her due. The Brooklyn Museum, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art and Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing, 4th Floor 
A dance and fitness class for seniors taught by Walter Rutledge Nereid Older Adult Center 720 Nereid Ave, Bronx, NY 10466 This dynamic showcase—described as an “extravaganza” by curator Adrienne Edwards—brings together visual art, live performance, music, a range of archival materials, and a multi-screen video installation drawn from recordings of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) repertory to explore the full range of Ailey’s personal and creative life. The Brooklyn Museum, in partnership with the National Gallery of Art, closes this gap with Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist and All That It Implies, an exhibition of over 200 works that gives this revolutionary artist and radical activist her due. The Brooklyn Museum, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art and Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing, 4th Floor This dynamic showcase—described as an “extravaganza” by curator Adrienne Edwards—brings together visual art, live performance, music, a range of archival materials, and a multi-screen video installation drawn from recordings of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) repertory to explore the full range of Ailey’s personal and creative life. The Brooklyn Museum, in partnership with the National Gallery of Art, closes this gap with Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist and All That It Implies, an exhibition of over 200 works that gives this revolutionary artist and radical activist her due. The Brooklyn Museum, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art and Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing, 4th Floor This dynamic showcase—described as an “extravaganza” by curator Adrienne Edwards—brings together visual art, live performance, music, a range of archival materials, and a multi-screen video installation drawn from recordings of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) repertory to explore the full range of Ailey’s personal and creative life. The Brooklyn Museum, in partnership with the National Gallery of Art, closes this gap with Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist and All That It Implies, an exhibition of over 200 works that gives this revolutionary artist and radical activist her due. The Brooklyn Museum, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art and Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing, 4th Floor This dynamic showcase—described as an “extravaganza” by curator Adrienne Edwards—brings together visual art, live performance, music, a range of archival materials, and a multi-screen video installation drawn from recordings of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) repertory to explore the full range of Ailey’s personal and creative life. The Brooklyn Museum, in partnership with the National Gallery of Art, closes this gap with Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist and All That It Implies, an exhibition of over 200 works that gives this revolutionary artist and radical activist her due. The Brooklyn Museum, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art and Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing, 4th Floor This dynamic showcase—described as an “extravaganza” by curator Adrienne Edwards—brings together visual art, live performance, music, a range of archival materials, and a multi-screen video installation drawn from recordings of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) repertory to explore the full range of Ailey’s personal and creative life. The Brooklyn Museum, in partnership with the National Gallery of Art, closes this gap with Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist and All That It Implies, an exhibition of over 200 works that gives this revolutionary artist and radical activist her due. The Brooklyn Museum, Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art and Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing, 4th Floor 