In a First-of-its-Kind Residency, the Celebrated New York-Based Company Will Perform at The Music Center in Los Angeles for Four Consecutive Years Beginning with the 2023–2024 Season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center
LOS ANGELES (May 10, 2023) — The Music Center and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater jointly announced today that the esteemed New York-based dance company, adored by Los Angeles audiences for more than two decades, will perform for four consecutive years at The Music Center’s iconic Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, beginning with the 2023–2024 season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center. The multi-year residency is the first of its kind in the nearly 60-year history of The Music Center’s dance presentations.
“This unprecedented multi-year partnership forged between The Music Center and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is a perfect match. Since debuting on our stage 25 years ago, the company’s powerful performances have consistently moved and brought boundless joy to countless Angelenos and performing arts lovers,” said Rachel S. Moore, president and CEO of The Music Center. “Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s commitment to social justice, reflecting the complex times we live in, and to unparalleled artistic skill makes the company an extraordinary partner to The Music Center. It is an honor to have Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater make The Music Center its Los Angeles home for the next four years. Angelenos and audiences of all ages and backgrounds will have more opportunities to experience firsthand why the company is such a cultural phenomenon.”
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater first appeared at The Music Center in 1998 with groundbreaking performances of George Faison’s 1971 work Slaves, Ulysses Dove’s 1984 Bad Blood and Ailey’s 1960 Revelations. Since its debut at The Music Center, the acclaimed company has returned to perform for Los Angeles audiences an impressive 11 times (2001, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019–2021).
“I’m proud that Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is joining with The Music Center on this extraordinary partnership bringing the work of Alvin Ailey and today’s most significant choreographers to Angelenos,” said Artistic Director Robert Battle. “For more than 20 years, the company has returned to the stage of Dorothy Chandler Pavilion time and time again, and we are thrilled it will be the home to share the magic of Ailey with audiences annually for years to come.”
Aside from Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s triumph in bringing Los Angeles audiences to their feet, the relationship between the highly revered dance company and The Music Center runs deep. The company’s Associate Artistic Director Matthew Rushing is a native of Los Angeles. As a high school student, Rushing competed in The Music Center’s Spotlight program in 1991, a free nationally acclaimed performing arts competition, scholarship and artistic development program for Southern California teens. Rushing excelled through the rigorous yearlong program to become a Grand Prize Finalist in the non-classical dance category; he had the enviable opportunity to perform in front of a live audience inside The Music Center’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. After receiving a scholarship to The Ailey School, he quickly became a member of Ailey II and then Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1992. In addition to becoming renowned as one of the great male dancers on the American stage, he also choreographed four ballets for the company, including: Uptown (2009), a tribute to the Harlem Renaissance and ODETTA (2014), a celebration of “the queen of American folk music” called the voice of the Civil Rights Movement.
“It is a surreal experience to have Ailey and The Music Center, two great institutions that had an incredible impact on my life as an artist, come together to bring artistry, spirit and grace to Angelenos,” said Rushing. “I’m proud and moved by this full circle.”
In addition to participating in the Dance at The Music Center series, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is partnering with The Music Center’s programming division, TMC Arts, to create special events, talks, festivals, master classes and in-school residencies that provide opportunities for the public to learn about the choreography and engage in artistic and cultural experiences related to the company’s work. Most recently, in 2023, the Ailey Arts In Education & Community Programs visited multiple middle schools in the county for a weeklong arts-learning experience. The program began with a professional development workshop for educators, followed by classroom workshops for students that examined the work and historical impact of Alvin Ailey, a writing project on students’ self-reflection and a discussion on the choreography of the Ailey masterpiece Revelations. Later this year, The Music Center will work with the Ailey company to offer an AileyDance for Active Aging workshop to older adults at a local senior facility.
Ailey Executive Director Bennett Rink said, “We are delighted to announce this long-term agreement with one of the nation’s most important performing arts institutions, The Music Center. Los Angeles is the city where Mr. Ailey trained as a dancer and launched his career. Although the company he founded is proudly rooted in New York, every visit of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to Los Angeles is in some way a homecoming.”
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will perform on March 20–24, 2024 during The Music Center’s 2023–2024 season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center. Additional details about the company’s works, as well as the entire upcoming dance season, will be announced soon. Learn the latest news and updates about the upcoming season by following The Music Center on social media @musiccenterla.
For more information about The Music Center’s current 20th season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center, visit musiccenter.org.
For more information about Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, visit alvinailey.org.
About Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center
Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center, a TMC Arts program, is one of the leading presenters of dance on the West Coast. The celebrated series offers significant works by prestigious ballet and contemporary dance artists from around the world. Now entering its 20th year, Dance at The Music Center is a powerful force, supporting new works and artists-in-residence projects by today’s most influential companies and choreographers. Performances are complemented by special experiences for both ticket buyers and the public with opportunities to learn more about the choreography and the themes explored, including panels, master classes, dance film festivals, interactive experiences and more. The 20th season of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center is generously supported by Glorya Kaufman Foundation, Center Dance Arts, Dorothy B. Chandler Program Fund and Elisabeth Katte Harris.
About Center Dance Arts
Center Dance Arts is a dynamic community of patrons with a passion for dance. Center Dance Arts members bring dance to life in Los Angeles by promoting The Music Center’s world-class dance performances, extensive educational outreach and free and low-cost community experiences so all may experience the transformative power of dance. For more information, visit musiccenter.org/cda.
About The Music Center
The Music Center convenes artists, communities and ideas with the goal of deepening the cultural lives of every resident in Los Angeles County. The $70 million non-profit performing arts organization has two divisions: TMC Arts and TMC Ops. TMC Arts, The Music Center’s programming engine, provides year-round programming inside The Music Center’s four theatres, on Jerry Moss Plaza, outside at Gloria Molina Grand Park—a 12-acre adjacent green space—in schools and other locations all over Los Angeles County and on a digital platform called The Music Center Offstage. TMC Arts presents world-class dance with Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center, free and low-cost public concerts and events, as well as live and digital K–12 arts education programs, workshops, performances, interactive experiences and special events. TMC Ops manages the theatres, the Plaza and Gloria Molina Grand Park, which comprise $2 billion in county assets, on behalf of the County of Los Angeles. The Music Center is also home to four renowned resident companies—Center Theatre Group, Los Angeles Master Chorale, LA Opera and LA Phil. For more information, visit musiccenter.org. Follow The Music Center on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @MusicCenterLA.
About the 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 the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC; the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago; 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 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 alvinailey.org.
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