Shall We Dance Friday

Stormy Weather is a 1943 film musical produced and released by 20th Century Fox. The movie is considered one of the best Hollywood musicals with an all African-American cast and serve to  showcase of some of the top African-American performers of the time. Continue reading

On February 27th 2025 The View honored Black women who have broken barriers. The segment highlighted the accomplishments of Judith Jamison, choreographer Alvin Ailey‘s muse.  Constance Stamatiou a member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performs Right On Be Free an excerpt from Cry in honor of this Black… Continue reading

Amos Machanic, Jr. joined the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1996. During his 15 years with the company, Amos had the pleasure of traveling and performing across the globe and in 2010, he performed at the White House tribute to Judith Jamison. Continue reading

By Walter Rutledge The applause has subsided, curtain fallen and the house lights are at half during a brief pause between dances. Instinctively we peruse the program to find the bio of that one standout performer. In many cases that dancer’s initial training and nurturing did not happen in one… Continue reading

By Walter Rutledge Jamel Gaines Creative Outlet will commemorate the company’s 30th anniversary with a three-day New York City season Friday, February 13 through Sunday, February 15 at BAM Fisher Fishman Space. The season will offer Remembering, a program that reflects Gaines continued commitment to educate and enlighten the next… Continue reading

Ailey Celebrates Ellington premiered in 1974 on CBS. Narrated by R&B legend Gladys Knight the television special showcases the collaborative bond between choreographer Alvin Ailey and jazz music royalty Duke Ellington. Continue reading

By Walter Rutledge Happy Birthday to one of the dance world’s icons Debbie Allen. We had the opportunity to talk to Ms. Allen about a wide range of her life experiences from segregated dance classes in her native Texas, to heartless rejection and finally coming into her own in New… Continue reading

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

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… Continue reading

 The 2024 New York City Ballet’s production of  The Nutcracker has cast Charlotte Nebres, a black dancer, to play Marie for the first time in the productions 70 year history. Continue reading

By Walter Rutledge Lloyd Knight’s solo dance work, The Drama will have its preview public performances Friday, December 13, 7pm, and Saturday, December 14, 6pm, at the Martha Graham Studio Theater, 55 Bethune Street, 11th Floor, in Manhattan’s West Village/Meatpacking district. Commissioned by the Guggenheim’s Works & Process The Drama is being presented on… 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… 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… Continue reading

This historic performance from 1968 captures choreographer/performer Rudolf Nureyev at the peak of his career. Filmed at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the ballet features artists of the Royal Ballet including Wayne Sleep, Jillian Gibbs and Merle Park as Clara. Continue reading

  Christine Shevchenko is Odile the black swan seductress and Calvin Royal is the poor duped Prince Siegfried  in excerpts from Swan Lake Act 3. Continue reading

Memphis Jookin is a dance style that originated in Memphis, Tennesse in the 1980s and 1990s. It’s a blend of hip hop and modern dance that’s known for its intricate footwork, slides, glides, and toe stands. Continue reading

Fabulous Feet from the Broadway musical The Tap Dance Kid choreographed by Danny Daniels and featuring Alfonso Ribeiro, Hinton Battle and Company. This performance is from the 1984 Tony Awards.  Continue reading

Straight Up by dancer and choreographer Paula Abdul from her debut studio album, Forever Your Girl (1988). Straight Up became Abdul’s first top-40 hit in the United States, eventually topping the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1989. Continue reading

The Zaouli dance is a traditional dance of the Guro people of Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). It’s renowned for its vibrant, intricate footwork . Continue reading

Cristian Cerezo and Wilson Munoz dance “Temo” by Orquesta Típica Victor, sung by Mario Pomar, at the 19th Lisbon Tango Festival 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal. Continue reading

The dance is called Girl Hunt Ballet from the 1953 film The Band Wagon directed by Vincente Minnelli. It is around 12 minutes long and is a mini-mystery dance. Fred Astaire plays Rod Reilly, a private detective and he is narrating his story, which is unfolding in the dance. Cyd… Continue reading

Robert Garland made the leap from principal dancer to emerging choreography with his 1979 company debut Return. Garland described the work as “post-modern urban neoclassicism – an attempt to fuse an urban physical sensibility and a neoclassical one.” Continue reading

By Walter Rutledge Alvin Ailey dancer emeritus Dudley Williams would have celebrated his 85 birthday on August 18th. And although time is a very fickle and forgetful mistress Dudley remains of one the stars of the “Golden Age” of the Ailey company. His name is synonymous with dancers and choreographers… Continue reading

By Walter Rutledge Unite, the Joyce Ballet Festival’s opening night performance was an eye-opening reveal of the face (or faces) of the future of ballet. The six-day, festival offers eight performances from Tuesday August 13 through Sunday August 18. Unite is an enlightening example of the growing and long overdue… Continue reading

UNITE the Joyce Theater’s Ballet Festival, August 13 through August 18, is curated and co-produced by American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer Calvin Royal III. One of the works to be presented, Touché, is a duet that explores the themes of male love.  Created by Chris Rudd the ballet features Royal III (Adam)… Continue reading

By Walter Rutledge Happy Birthday renaissance man Geoffrey Holder. The dancer, actor, choreographer, director, visual artist and all around force of nature was born on August 1st, 1930 in Port of Spain; the capital city of the Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. Continue reading

Alright is by R&B artist from her fourth studio album, Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814. Written by Janet  Jackson and Jimmy Jam also Terry Lewis, he song was released on March 4, 1990, by A&M Records as the fourth single from Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814. Continue reading

By Walter Rutledge One of the most gratifying aspects of teaching and choreographing is the incredibly talented young people you encounter along your journey. For those ofttimes all to brief moments that your paths cross you hope you were able to share something- one small seed that will take root… Continue reading

Dance Theatre of Harlem’s iconic Firebird places the Russian folk tale about a magical bird that triumphs over evil in an exotic Caribbean setting. John Taras’ choreography to Stravinsky’s familiar score was further enlivened by sets and costumes by Geoffrey Holder. The 1982 DTH production was a tremendous worldwide success. Continue reading

To mark the current exhibition at Foundation Louis Vuitton in Paris, Icons Of Modern Art: The Shchukin Collection, London-based director Andrew Margetson follows Memphis-born jookin’ dancer Lil Buck as he twists and turns past masterpieces by the likes of Picasso and Matisse. Continue reading

On March 1 1981, Sophisticated Ladies debuted on Broadway. The show run for 767 performances  and garnered two Tony Awards for Willi Kim for Best Costume and Hinton Battle for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. It Don’t Mean a Thing! featuring the sultry Phyllis Hyman, Hinton Battle… Continue reading

Ronald K. Brown’s Four Corners was originally commissioned for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 2014. Dancers depict spiritual seekers amid four angels standing on the corners of the earth, holding the four winds. Continue reading

Carmen de Lavallade dancing to Quincy Jones’s “Soul Bossa Nova” with Wesley Fata on November 16, 1968. Ms. de Lavallade’s late husband, the great Geoffrey Holder, choreographed this piece This is jut an excerpt of a much longer dance. Continue reading

  From the Ailey Press Office The Board of Trustees of Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation today announced that Robert Battle, Artistic Director of Ailey since 2011, has informed them that he needs to focus on his health and has submitted his resignation. The Board has accepted Mr. Battle’s resignation with… Continue reading

This House of Flowers excerpt featuring Geoffrey Holder and Carmen De Lavallade  is from the 2005 documentary Carmen & Geoffrey. Holder and his brother Boscoe talk about their early roots in Trinidad, forming a dance company and Holder meeting his wife (De Lavallade) in the 1955 production of House of Flowers. Continue reading

Mary Lou’s Mass (1971) with John Parks, Dudley Williams and Clive Thompson and Hidden Rites (1973) with John Parks and Judith Jamison.  Continue reading

By Walter Rutledge The second installment from the Out and About NYC Magazine 2015 interview with entertainment icon Debbie Allen. In this section we discussed her views on choreography and directing.  Continue reading

By Walter Rutledge In 2015 O&A NYC Editor-in-Chief Walter Rutledge interviewed Debbie Allen at the Faison Firehouse Theater for Dance Noir Magazine (DNM). The print article would discuss her relationship with Katherine Dunham. The video was produced as visual notes for the upcoming Dunham article. When the magazine suspended publication,… Continue reading

In 1972, Alvin Ailey created the elegiac solo Love Songs for dancer Dudley Williams. The  sixteen minute solo, composed in three sections includes A Song for You by Donny Hathaway; Poppies by Nina Simone; and He Ain’t Heavy, He’s my Brother by Donny Hathaway. Many  thought of the work as the… Continue reading

Larry Rhodes discusses the events leading to the formation of the Harkness Ballet in an excerpt from the upcoming documentary An American Ballet Story.  The story about the all too short life of the Harkness Ballet, will have its New York live screening premiere on April 20th at the New York Public Library Performing Arts – Bruno Walter Auditorium. O&A… Continue reading

In the dance film autobiography Ballet For Life: Harkness Ballet former dance and acclaimed teacher  Finis Jhung reminisces about his years with the Harkness Ballet where he reached the pinnacle in his career and discovered Buddhism, which dramatically changed the course of his life. Continue reading

They Called Her Moses is Donald McKayle‘s story of freedom fighter Harriet Tubman. The cast includes Jacqueline Walcott, Robert Powell, Sylvia Waters, Arthur Mitchell, Kathleen Stanford, Donald McKayle and Carmen DeLavallade. Continue reading

One of Bearden’s early dance collaborations was the modern dance work Ancestral Voices choreographed by Dianne McIntyre and presented by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. At the suggestion of company founder and artistic director Alvin Ailey, Romare Bearden was commissioned to create the visuals for the work which premiered… Continue reading

By Walter Rutledge Clive Thompson danced in the Golden Era of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Officially becoming a permanent member in 1970 when choreographer Ailey was entering a creative zenith. He viral good looks, skillful partnering, and his ability to capture audiences in both dramatic and abstract roles… Continue reading

Stephen Laurel Twitch Boss was an American freestyle hip hop dancer, choreographer, actor, television producer and television personality. In 2008, he finished in second place on the American version of So You Think You Can Dance. Sleep In Heaven! Continue reading

This historic performance from 1968 captures choreographer/performer Rudolf Nureyev at the peak of his career. Filmed at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the ballet features artists of the Royal Ballet including Wayne Sleep, Jillian Gibbs and Merle Park as Clara. Continue reading

Alvin Ailey’s masterwork Revelations (1960), one of the most recognizable modern dance works, remains a powerful testament to the human spirit. This cast includes Marilyn Banks, April Berry, Kevin Brown, Gary DeLoatch, Ralph Glenmore, Deborah Manning, Renee Robinson and Dudley Williams.  Continue reading

Josh Killacky is a famous Dancer, Choreographer, Tik Tok Star, Model from the United States. He is famous for his dancing on Tik Tok as well on other social media platform. He has been seen Ellen Show, NBC World Of Dance, Good Morning America. Continue reading

Seducing countless generations, Bram Stoker’s legendary vampire lives on in this extraordinary ballet. The dark tale of the immortal Count is played out through Northern Ballet’s blend of sensuous dancing and gripping theatre enhanced by gothic sets and costumes. Continue reading

Sylvie Guillem is one of the most acclaimed dancers in the history of the dance world. With her flexible and strong body, beautiful legs, and rich expressive power, she transformed the image of conventional female dancers. She revolutionized classical ballet, pioneering a new model of classical ballerina. At a time… Continue reading

Jabbawockeez is a Hip Hop dance crew that rose to prominence as the winner of the first season of America’s Best Dance Crew in 2008. Established in 2003 in San Diego, California when dancers Kevin Brewer and Joe Larot put together an innovative dance crew. Continue reading

Battle Fest started in the basements in the heart of Bedstuy and Flatbush Brooklyn. Like most of underground Black culture the Hip Hop Dance artform has exploded worldwide.  Continue reading

Ghetto Funk started out life as a UK based online blog and record label which was founded by Simon and Will in August 2010. They wanted to create something for the burgeoning ‘party breaks’ scene so that people had a place to find the latest music and artists contributing to… Continue reading

Rock Steady Crew is a Break Dance group has become a franchise name for multiple groups in other locations.The group was initially formed in the Bronx,New York City in 1977 by B-Boy Jimmy Dee and Jimmy Lee. The Manhattan branch was created by Crazy Legs and B-Boy Fresh. Continue reading

The Ghetto Kids (or Triplets Ghetto Kids) is a dance group founded in 2014 by Daouda Kavuma and composed of children from the Katwe slum in Kampala (Uganda). Continue reading

Cal Created a Flex dance veteran from Brooklyn,NewYork battles Kidd The Monster a Popper from Southern Florida at Battlefest League. Continue reading

As special holiday gift from the Ailey company to you, watch the Opening Night Gala now through Dec 28. The performance honors you, our audience, our inspiration. Happy Holidays! Featuring: Robert Battle’s ‘Ella’(performed to live music by Jazzmeia Horne) and the finale of Love Stories,’ plus Bird’ Lives!, an excerpt… Continue reading

In 2015, Dancer Misty Copeland made history by becoming the first African American female principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre. Fast forward to 2021, and she has been on Time magazine’s 100 list and one Glamour magazine’s “Women of the Year.” Now, the New York Times bestselling author and trailblazer… Continue reading

By Walter Rutledge Martha Graham Dance Company begins it’s fall season on Tuesday, October 26 through October 31 at the Joyce Theater. Principal dancer Lloyd Knight discussed the upcoming season, working through the pandemic, and all things Graham with O&A NYC Editor-in-Chief Walter Rutledge.  Continue reading

This documentary follows the astonishing five-decade marriage of Carmen De Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder and focuses on their careers as dancers, actors, choreographers and more. Continue reading

On March 15th, 2021 Samantha Figgins and Yannick Lebrun of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater transformed an empty Queens Museum through movement. Continue reading

Ailey Celebrates Juneteenth is an uplifting program that features performance highlights from Alvin Ailey’s Cry and Revelations, as well as Rennie Harris’ Lazarus. Continue reading

Count Basie and his Orchestra play Harlem Sandman, an extended number in Hit Parade of 1943. It features Dorothy Dandridge and Jack Williams singing plus dance act Pops and Louis (Albert Whitman & Louis Williams) along with dancers Dorothea Durham, Neva Peoples & Ruth Scott. Continue reading

Ailey All Access presents the online premiere of ‘Members Don’t Get Weary,‘ the first work Resident Choreographer Jamar Roberts created for the Company. He says this ensemble work set to the music of legendary American jazz artist John Coltrane, “takes an abstract look into the notion of one ‘having the… Continue reading

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performs Revelations, Chroma, Grace, and Takademe in this 2015 rebroadcast. Continue reading

By Walter Rutledge The bright late morning sun was still drying the dew off the grass, but Fort Green Park was already bustling with energy. As I climbed the white marble stairs the sound of music greeted me halfway up. Patiently waiting at the base of the Prison Ship Martyrs’… Continue reading

Bob Fosse stunned the musical theatre world when he went from dance darling to world class choreographer and director. Continue reading

Leo Holder, son of the choreographer Geoffrey Holder, and Dance Theatre of Harlem Artistic Director Virginia Johnson discuss the origins of Dougla. This is followed by a special presentation of Dougla from a 1977 PBS Broadcast. Continue reading

The documentary film A Hymn for Alvin Ailey goes behind the scenes of Judith Jamison’s Hymn and gives you a look at Alvin Ailey’s life from the perspective of those who knew him best. Continue reading

Greenwood, Donald Byrd‘s fifth Ailey commission draws on the Company’s theatrical roots and legacy of addressing social injustice. The work’s title references a 1921 tragedy that happened in Tulsa, Oklahoma’s segregated Greenwood District. At the time, it was one of the country’s most affluent African American communities, known as Black… Continue reading

When the ballet Giselle was created in 1841, it was not imagined to be performed by men and women of color, Black men and women. In 1984, Dance Theatre of Harlem Co-Founder Arthur Mitchell changed that. The acclaimed DTH production of this classic, Creole Giselle, was re-conceived by Arthur Mitchell… Continue reading

By Walter Rutledge   On an unseasonably cold Sunday April morning Calvin Royal III met my at the East Harlem storefront dance studio of Robin William’s Uptown Dance Academy. The interview was in conjunction with his first upcoming New York City season as a soloist with American Ballet Theater (ABT).… Continue reading

A-Z of Dance shows you how to set hearts alight and clubs on fire. Shot on the streets and rooftops of sunny LA, float like an Arabesque, spin like a B-Boy, wobble like a Chicken Noodle Soup… it’s time to step up! In a very special project for i-D and… Continue reading

The Moor’s Pavane is a 20-minute ballet based upon the tragedy Othelle by William Shakespeare. The ballet was choreographed by Jose’ Limon in 1949 to music from Henry Purcell’s Abdelazer, The Gordion Knot Untied, and the pavane from Pavane and Chaconne for Strings, arranged by Simon Sadoff.   Continue reading

Josephslegende (The Legend of Joseph), Op. 63, is a ballet in one act for the Ballets Russes based on the story of Potiphar’s Wife, with a libretto by Hofmannsthal and Kessler and music by Richard Strauss. Composed in 1912–14, it premiered at the Paris Opera on 14 May 1914. Continue reading

Arthur Mitchell’s Creole Giselle performed by the Dance Theatre Of Harlem (DTH), and set the traditional story of Giselle in 1841 Louisiana broke barriers with this all African American adaptation.  Continue reading

Donald McKayle’s 1959 masterwork, Rainbow Round My Shoulder, is acclaimed as a modern dance classic. A searing dramatic narrative, it is set on a chain gang in the American south where prisoners work, breaking rock from “can see to can’t see.” Their aspirations for freedom come in the guise of a… Continue reading

By Walter Rutledge Geoffrey Holder’s Banda dance debuted in the 1954 Truman Capote/Harold Arlen musical House Of Flowers. Holder the Baron of The Cemetery (based on the Haitian Loa of Death Baron Samedi) received both a performer and choreographer credit in the program. The Broadway musical takes place somewhere in the West Indies… Continue reading

Alvin Ailey’s masterwork Revelations (1960), one of the most recognizable modern dance works, remains a powerful testament to the human spirit. This cast includes Marilyn Banks, April Berry, Kevin Brown, Gary DeLoatch, Ralph Glenmore, Deborah Manning, Renee Robinson and Dudley Williams.  Continue reading

This video features Drew Dollaz 0ne of the Flex Pioneers. The video is a metaphor of how he views the world. Using the Concept from the Movie “I am Legend” and putting a dance twist to it. Music by BrunuhVille entitled In to Darkness and edited by ReemGrafix. Continue reading

Richie vs Sage BattleFest 35 Continue reading

Misty Copeland literally leaped into the public consciousness through a well orchestrated and highly visible media campaign. Her performances with music icon Prince helped catapulted Copeland into the public eye.  Continue reading

Michael “Boogaloo Shrimp” Chambers a dancer and actor known for his role as Turbo in the 1984 film Breakin and the sequel Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo. Continue reading

Choreographer/dancer Kyle Abraham takes us on a funky stroll through downtown Manhattan near City Hall to the music of Bosq Featuring Evan Laflamme. Continue reading

Principal dancers Edward Watson and Marianela Nuñez dance the final pas de deux in Wayne McGregor’s abstract ballet Infra, a moving exploration of emotion, set to Max Richter’s melancholic and beautiful score. Continue reading

The kinematic street art of vogue dancing performed byKassandra Ebony, directed by Micheal Rice with music by Kevin Jz Prodigy. Continue reading

Svetlana Zakharova and Roberto Bolle in Black Swan variation from the 1953 Bourmeister rendering of Swan Lake. Continue reading

Le Jeune Homme et La Mort, the iconic masterwork choreographed by Roland Petit featuring Nicolas Le Riche and Marie-Agnès Gillot as Death. With a libretto by Jean Cocteau and choreography by Roland Petit, the 1946 ballet Le Jeune Homme et la Mort is a highly theatrical mix of post-war existentialism and chic.… Continue reading

The Black Network (1936) the all-black musical short starring Nina Mae McKinney and including this dance number with the Nicholas Brothers, a fifteen-year-old Harold and twenty-two-year-old Fayard Nicholas, perform the song Lucky Number. Continue reading

Paula Abdul closed the 2019 Billboard Music Awards with a six-song medley of her hits. Continue reading

Apollo, one of George Balanchine‘s early masterpieces, filmed in Montreal in 1968 the cast included a very young Suzanne Farrell, Peter Martins, Marnee Morris, and Karin Von Aroldingen. Continue reading

Fosse– A 2001 Broadway tribute to the work of Bob Fosse and dedicated to Gwen Verdon. Including appearances by Ann Reinking and Ben Vereen. Continue reading

To celebrate the 93th Season of the Martha Graham Dance Company, April 2 through April 14 at the Joyce Theater, O&A NYC Magazine reposts Martha Graham’s Appalachian Spring. Appalachian Spring premiered on October 30th, 1944, at the Library of Congress, Coolidge Auditorium in Washington DC, with Martha Graham dancing the lead… Continue reading

New York City Ballet principals Heather Watts and Mel Tomlinson perform George Balanchine’s Agon pas de deux. Continue reading

Arthur Mitchell’s Creole Giselle performed by the Dance Theatre Of Harlem (DTH), and set the traditional story of Giselle in 1841 Louisiana broke barriers with this African American adaptation.  Continue reading

Royal Ballet Principal dancers Edward Watson and Marianela Nuñez dance the final pas de deux in Wayne McGregor’s abstract ballet Infra, a moving exploration of emotion, set to Max Richter’s melancholic and beautiful score. Continue reading

Former New York City Ballet dancer Gelsey Kirkland told “60 Minutes” in a 1987 interview. “[Balanchine] knocked on my chest and he said, ‘You know, dear, what is important is to see bones,”‘ … Down to the bone. That is what he believed was truly beautiful.” Continue reading

Lil Buck, ambassador of Memphis Jookin, performed his interpretation of Stravinsky’s ballet Petrouchka on October 29-30, 2016 at the Frank Gehry designed Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. Continue reading

Mikhail Baryshnikov & Gelsey Kirkland perform the Nutcracker, Grand Pas de Deux with American Ballet Theatre (1977) Continue reading

By Walter Rutledge Dancer Khalia Campbell is living her dream! Years of dedication, sacrifice and ole fashion hard work has taken this Bronx native to her “dream job” as a member of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Campbell will make her New York City Center debut during the company’s fall… Continue reading