Ailey Extension Spreads Holiday Cheer With Festive Dance Parties, New Weekly Classes, Workshops And A Free Class

Ailey Extension is spreading joy to the dance world with themed workshops to keep everyone in the holiday spirit. Over the next few weeks all are welcome to take part in festive workshops tied to the joyous season and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's holiday engagement through January 5, 2020 at New York City Center. Dancers can celebrate the most wonderful time of the year at Matthew Johnson Harris' HoliSLAY Hip Hop Cardio Dance Party and jump start their New Year's resolutions sweating it out at a Zumba Holiday Dance Party with Richard Martinez; or practice walking into the new year with confidence at a Runway & Vogue workshop with Pose on FX stars Dominique A. Jackson and Jason Rodriguez and discover the secrets of feeling powerful at an Absolute Beginner Heels workshop with Jessica Castro. Let the spirit of Ailey's holiday performances provide motivation to learn Ailey's signature style at Intro to Ailey Classics with Sarita Allen and explore Mr. Ailey's genius as a choreographer at Celebrating Alvin Ailey with Judith Jamison.

Ailey audiences will receive the gift of a free class when they present their ticket at the Ailey Extension front desk within 60 days of seeing a performance. This Ticket to Dance* promotion allows first time students to take their first class for free and returning students to receive a free class with the purchase of a 10-class card. Audience members can trade their free ticket to try any of Ailey Extension's 90+ weekly classes, including the recently added Age Defying Therapeutic Stretch for Seniors with Finis Jhung, Advanced Beginner Ballet with Yuka Kawazu, Capoeira with Leandro Silva, or African-Brazilian with Janete Silva.

Each new class and workshop presents an opportunity for novice and professional students alike to explore new dance styles, refine their technique, and connect with others in the NYC dance community while being taught by the city's top instructors at The Joan Weill Center for Dance - New York's largest building dedicated to dance and home of the world-renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, and The Ailey School. For further information about workshops at Ailey Extension, and to register visit www.aileyextension.com.

*Ticket to Dance promotion is not valid on workshops and must be redeemed in person.

HOLIDAY WORKSHOPS

HOLISLAY WITH Matthew Johnson HARRIS

It's the most wonderful time of the year, and what better way to celebrate than with HoliSLAY Hip-Hop Cardio Dance Party, a holiday-themed hip-hop cardio dance party?! On Saturday, December 14 from 3pm-4:30pm will feature music from Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa traditions and help you close out the decade by dancing to the biggest songs of 2019. In keeping with the holiday spirit of giving, this workshop will also include a clothing drive for children in need. Students are encouraged to bring a gently-worn children's clothing item to donate.

ZUMBA HOLIDAY DANCE PARTY

Get ready for 2020 as you dance with Richard Martinez at the Zumba Holiday Dance Party on Saturday, December 28 from 11:30am-1pm! Jump start your New Year's resolutions and party into the new decade with this high energy, Latin-based fitness workshop at the Ailey Studios.

NEW YORK City Center WORKSHOPS

INTRO TO AILEY CLASSICS

Learn the rich history of Alvin Ailey's signature style from world-renowned former Ailey dancer Sarita Allen as she teaches highlights of choreography from Ailey Classics including Blues Suite, Night Creature, Memoria and Mr. Ailey's masterpiece Revelations. On Saturday, January 4 from 3pm-5pm, Sarita Allen will guide dancers of all levels and backgrounds through Mr. Ailey's works, which fuse theater, modern dance, ballet and jazz with creating hope-fueled choreography that spreads global awareness of the universality of the African-American experience through dance.

CELEBRATING Alvin Ailey

As one of the most influential dance figures of the late 20th century, Judith Jamison opened doors to many young aspiring dancers from all over the world. On Saturday, January 11 from 4pm-5:30pm, Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison will lead a workshop allowing dancers an opportunity to infuse her unique style with a clear focus on musicality while exploring Mr. Ailey's genius as a choreographer. Students will discover ways to expand their artistic range and learn "how to give equal value to every step you take".

ADDITIONAL WORKSHOPS

RUNWAY & VOGUE

Join the stars of Pose on FX and learn to walk, vogue, and strike a pose with confidence and precision at a Runway & Vogue workshop! On Friday, December 13 from 7pm-9pm Actress Dominique A. Jackson will guide you through poses, exercises, challenges and creative ideas to increase your confidence for the runway while Pose Movement Coach and Choreographer Jason Rodriguez will help you discover New Way Vogue - one of the styles of vogue seen in mainstream media. Within this class you'll learn to walk the runway from a Ball to New York Fashion Week and work on creating model-like poses to the beat of the music, duck walks and dips to seal your entire dance paragraph of vogue.

MOVE YOUR CURVES

Surround yourself with fellow confident plus size women who share your passion for dance in the Move Your Curves workshop. Ailey Extension is partnering with Pretty BIG Movement to present monthly workshops specializing in hip-hop, jazz, ethnic and other dance styles in a judgment-free environment. Saturday, December 14 from 7pm - 9pm.

AFRO FLOW YOGA

Find your center during an Afro Flow Yoga workshop which infuses electrifying dance movements of the African Diaspora flowing with a meditative yoga sequence of gentle yet powerful stretches. You will deeply connect with the soulful rhythms of live drumming, energize your chakras, gain strength and flexibility, and rejoice in the bliss of feeling grounded and peaceful. Sunday December 22 from 2pm - 4:30pm.

ABSOLUTE BEGINNER HEELS

Discover the secrets of feeling more confident, powerful, and sassy in your heels! Absolute Beginner Heels will focus on helping you understand how to find your center in a heel, along with classic lines, walks and learning choreography. Led by celebrity dancer Jessica Castro, this class begins with a thorough warm up to emphasize proper alignment, improve balance, and core strength before learning moves and grooves across the floor. Wednesday, January 8 from 7pm-8:30pm.

NEW WEEKLY CLASSES

AGE DEFYING THERAPEUTIC STRETCH FOR SENIORS WITH FINIS JHUNG

Regain your youthful vitality and feel better in a 45-minute therapeutic stretch class on Tuesdays from 6pm-6:45pm. Ballet legend Finis Jhung will show you how to restore joint mobility, relax tense muscles, increase flexibility, and calm your mind. These slowly paced easy-to-follow exercises are done both standing and sitting.

ADVANCED BEGINNER BALLET WITH YUKA KAWAZU

Build on the fundamentals of ballet technique along with concepts of adagio, simple pirouettes, and petit allegro on Wednesdays from 7:30pm-9pm. Designed to develop students' essential ideas of the ballet movement process, class will focus on the use of the body directions, balances in all positions, simple jumps, as well as the details of port de bras. Ballet shoes are recommended.

CAPOEIRA WITH LEANDRO SILVA

Play capoeira, an African-Brazilian martial art that incorporates acrobatics, dance, music and songs in a rhythmic dialogue of body, mind, and spirit on Fridays from 7:30pm-9pm. In this communal game two opponents play each other inside the roda (a circle) formed by other players who create rhythm for the gamy by clapping, singing and playing the berimbaus (African-Brazilian traditional instruments, considered the soul of capoeira) and other key instruments. The two opponents compete with each other using capoeira movements, camouflaging the self-defense kicks and moves with playful acrobatics and dance-like moves spontaneously creating strategy to fool their partner and catch them off guard.

AFRICAN-BRAZILIAN WITH JANETE SILVA

Develop rhythm and coordination, stay fit, relieve stress as you learn about Brazilian culture on Sundays from 2:30pm-4pm. Afro-Brazilian dance is full of spontaneous, soulful, exotic, and dynamic movement that will energize your body and spirit. This class presents sequences and exercises to prepare the body for uplifting and exciting dances from northern Brazil where African influences are strongest.

In addition to these exciting new workshops and classes, Ailey Extension offers more than 90 weekly classes in over 25 different dance and fitness techniques, including ballet, jazz, Dunham, Zumba, West African, Salsa, Pilates, Masala Bhangra, and many more. For the complete class schedule or to register, visit www.aileyextension.com.