1/5/25 O&A NYC HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALVIN AILEY!: Alvin Ailey 1985 Cairo Interview- Historic Stock Video Footage

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

12/28/24 O&A NYC MILESTONE: Happy 70th Birthday Denzel Washington

O&A NYC would like to celebration the 70th Birthday of actor, philanthropist, and role model Denzel Washington. Whose life and career has enriched the lives of untold individuals. The Mount Vernon native remembers his roots and the people and places that shaped his life. Washington spoke about his days as a Club kid at the Boys & Girls Club of Mount Vernon. He credited the time he spent there and the mentoring he received from caring staff as key to his survival and success. In honor of this milestone we present a soliloquy from Malcolm X.

Malcolm X (Denzel Washington) delivers a powerful speech about how Black people have been led astray by politicians in America. From the 1992 biographical film from director and co-writer Spike Lee, starring Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Albert Hall, Al Freeman Jr. and Delroy Lindo. Happy Birthday to a prolific man in the arts. Continue reading

12/27/25 O&A NYC DANCE/MILESTONES: Happy Birthday Joan Myers Brown!

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

5/3/23 O&A NYC MILESTONES- HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES BROWN: Live at the Boston Garden, April 5, 1968

On April 5th 1968, James Brown gave a free concert at The Boston Garden which became a thing of legend.  Only 24 hours earlier civil rights activist Dr Martin Luther King Jr. had been assassinated resulting in widespread violence across the United States. The mayor of Boston was persuaded to let the concert go ahead and it was broadcast live across the city by WGBH-TV. Continue reading

12/21/21 O&A NYC MILESTONES: Happy Birthday George Faison

By Walter Rutledge

There is only one George Faison! Dancer, choreographer, teacher, director, playwright, social activist, entrepreneur and friend. George has been one of my inspirations and artistic standard bearers for most of my career. In 2017 the Ailey American Dance Theater presented an excerpt of Suite Otis, his iconic tribute to Otis Redding. Faison sat down to talk about this masterwork,  experiences in the Ailey Company and his arts aesthetic. Happy Birthday George.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will present an excerpt of George Faison’s masterwork Suite Otis at their New York City Center season opening night gala, Wednesday, November 29 2017. Choreographed in 1971 for the George Faison Universal Dance Experience the work joined the Ailey repertoire in 1977. 40 years after it’s Ailey debut Suite Otis continues to excite and entertain audiences with verve, aplomb, fleet footed technique and imaginative Euclidean storytelling.

The company will perform the finale section set to Otis Redding’s Tenderness. The full cast section reintroduces the dancers creating a visually exciting yet compelling epilog. Throughout the work Faison (the imperial storyteller) does what every choreographer should do- invites us into his vision and delivers with clarity, focus and impeccable choreographic timing.

Balletomanes still long for the return of old fashion honest storytelling- the hallmark of Ailey’s original company. In Suite Otis Faison’s articulate use of the dance narrative genre captures the majesty and universal humanity of both Otis Redding’s music and the black dance experience. This gave him a voice in an era when Black American dance and culture had started to becoming a global  force.

Suite Otis- George Faison

What Faison did (and continues to do) is to keep the dance/theatre aesthetic in the forefront of the arts conversation. Tenderness will be performed for one performance only on Wednesday, November 29 for tickets and a complete schedule of the five-week New York City season visit ailey.org.

4/8/20 O&A NYC MAGAZINE: Remembering Louis Johnson

By Walter Rutledge

Louis Johnson’s passing marks the end of an era in Black dance. Johnson was the last of the of his generation of 20th century American choreographers of African descent and International renowned. His contemporaries, Alvin Ailey, Talley Beatty, Geoffrey Holder, Donald McKayle, and Arthur Mitchell, all forged through the restrictive Jim Crow era of hatred and segregation; that unfortunately included the arts- and dance. Continue reading

9/23/19 O&A NYC MILESTONES: Billy Porter has made history at the 2019 Emmys!

Billy Porter has made history at the 2019 Emmys! The “Pose” star became the first openly gay person of color to win an Emmy award for Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of Pray Tell in the acclaimed FX show. “The category is love, y’all!” he gushed. “I am so overwhelmed and I am so overjoyed to have lived long enough to see this day!” Billy broke down in tears while delivering his acceptance speech just one day after celebrating his 50th birthday! Continue reading

1/2/19 O&A NYC SONG OF THE DAY TRIBUTE: Micheal Jackson – Billie Jean

Billie Jean was a released by Epic Record on January 2, 1983 as the second single from his sixth studio album, Thriller. It was written and composed by Michael Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones Continue reading

1/1/19 O&A NYC IN MEMORARIUM: Ballroom icon Hector Xtravaganza (1958- 2018)

By Adewale Adekanbi

Ballroom icon Hector Xtravaganza passed away on December 30, 2018 in New York City, he was 60 years old. A dancer, activist, and HIV/AIDS advocate Hector used his art of vogue and love of ballroom (combined with his special flair for the “extravagant”) to enhance the lives of countless individuals in the  ballroom community for over thirty-five years. His death was officially announced Sunday on the House Of Xtravaganza’s facebook page- the house he loved so much that he adopted Xtravaganza as his legal surname. Continue reading

12/20/18 O&A NYC IN MEMORIUM: Raven Wilkinson Ballet Pioneer Dies at 83

Raven Wilkinson the first African-American to join a major international company had passed,  she was 83.  Continue reading