Appalachian Spring premiered on October 30th, 1944, at the Library of Congress, Coolidge Auditorium in Washington DC, with Martha Graham dancing the lead role. Created during the darkest days of War World II Graham wanted to create inspiring art that came out of the American experience. Graham spoke of the work, “To be great art… it must belong to the country in which it flourishes, not be a pale copy of some art form perfected by another culture and another people”. Continue reading
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater dancer and Baltimore School for the Arts alumna Jacqueline Green ’07 performs Ailey’s iconic solo Cry (1972). Continue reading
Lark Ascending set to Ralph Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending- Romance for Violin and Orchestra with choreography by Alvin Ailey. The ballet made both its company and world premiere at New York City Center during the 1972 season. Continue reading
Talley Beatty choreographed and performed Mourner’s Bench in 1947. It represents the anguish and loss for former slaves, now free men, killed during the Reconstruction Era at the beginning of the rise of the Klu Klux Klan. Beatty explained to me, “People were murdered by the Klan and at daybreak their relatives would find their bodies in the fields still covered in the morning dew.”
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 during Mardi Gras weekend. Continue reading
Deborah Manning performs Alvin Ailey’s tribute to woman (especially our mothers) Cry (1971). 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.
By Walter Rutledge
Masazumi Chaya, affectionately called Chaya, has been a part of Ailey organization for almost half a century. Chaya joined the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1972 during an era we refer to as the Golden Age of Ailey. During Chaya’s fifteen years as an Ailey dancer he distinguished himself as an intense performer; who excited audience with an almost effervescent abandon. Continue reading
By Walter Rutledge
Michelle Fleet has been affiliated with the Taylor organization since 1999. During her twenty-year association she has been a member of Taylor 2 (1999- 2002) and a seventeen-year member of the Paul Taylor Dance Company. The Bronx native talked with Out and About NYC Magazine Editor-in Chief Walter Rutledge about her career, favorite roles, and future ambitions prior to her final season (October 29 through November 17 at Lincoln Center’s Koch Theater) as a member of the Taylor company. Continue reading
The Dance of the Village Elders are back ! This time we exercise, dance and just have fun through the zoom platform or in-person at R.A.I.N. Nereid 
The Dance of the Village Elders are back ! This time we exercise, dance and just have fun through the zoom platform or in-person at R.A.I.N. Nereid 
