Caryn Cooper

Cultural World Ambassadors, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, makes its return to the New York City Center for a milestone celebration of the company's Ailey Ascending 60th Anniversary. As part of their annual five-week holiday engagement, the company honors the artistry and legacy of Mr. Ailey through special performances featuring an exhilarating mix of new premieres, audience favorites, and rarely seen works by Alvin Ailey himself! This celebration coincides with the City Center's landmark 75th anniversary.

In conjunction with the landmark 75th anniversary season of the New York City Center, the performances of Balanchine: The City Center Years honor George Balanchine, one of the greatest choreographers of American 20th century ballet. Mr. Balanchine is most widely known for co-founding the New York City Ballet with Lincoln Kirsten in 1948, at the City Center. It was there he developed some of his most iconic ballets that have made an impact in dance across the globe. In an unprecedented international tribute, the series featured some of the world's greatest ballet companies- all accompanied by the New York City Ballet Orchestra. Sunday, November 4th closed the celebration with performances by The Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Paris Opera Ballet, and The Mariinksy Ballet.

October 30, 2018 kicked of the return of Garth Fagan Dance to New York City. Their season at The Joyce Theater was full of new work and old revivals. This internationally-acclaimed company continues to use dance as a platform to honor and pay tribute to the African diaspora through the pioneering vision of Mr. Fagan and contemporary dance.

October 25-28, 2018 marked the 2018 American Dance Guild Performance Festival: Visions- Then and Now as the Guild celebrates 61 years of service to dance. This year's showcase brought a program of dances both old and new featuring the work of modern dance legends Jane Dudley and the late Donald McKayle. The weekend also recognized two-time BESSIE award winner Jane Comfort and the inimitable Eleo Pomare for this year's Lifetime Awards.

The Chen Dance Center, located in the heart of Chinatown in Manhattan, is dedicated to serving the Asian-American and New York City dance community. For over 35 years, the Center has provided moving experiences in Asian-American history through contemporary dance, artistic creation, arts education, and presentation. In addition to a professional modern dance company (H.T. Chen & Dancers), the Center's school seeks to channel students to explore their creativity through dance, all while illuminating the richness of the Asian-American culture and history.

Friday, October 12, 2018 kicked off the first of two weekends of Ailey's Choreography Unlocked Festival featuring an array of panel discussions, conversations, master classes and performances. All programs and events will take place at Ailey's home at The Joan Weill Center for Dance in New York City. As part of the “Ailey Ascending” 60th anniversary year-long celebration, it honors the pioneering legacy of Mr. Alvin Ailey himself and his spirit and belief that “dance came from the people and should always be delivered back to the people.”

Have you ever been to your local dancewear store or shopped online looking for a cute, elegant, or just a different leotard? As ballet dancers, in addition to dancing in beautiful tutus and costumes on stage, we also want to look nice in the dance studio for class, rehearsal, and auditions! And that is what the leotards of Xiaoxiao Designs provide. Started by professional ballet dancer and entrepreneur, Xiaoxiao Cao in 2015, Xiaoxiao Designs has leotards for every ballerina to stand out, and feel beautiful and confident.

July 25-28, 2018 featured the vibrant and radical revival of Micki Grant and Vinnette Carroll's Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope at the New York City Center as part of their 2018 Encores! Off Center series. The Grammy Award-winning and Tony-nominated musical is a celebration of African American culture and community that highlighted the issues of race politics in America through a lively mix of song and dance- with a score that features various music genres including jazz, soul, gospel, calypso, and rock. This particular production was directed and choreographed by Tony Award-winning tap dancer Savion Glover with musical arrangements by Annastasia Victory.

STEM from Dance (SFD) is a dance program that is designed to expose young girls of color to careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mechanics (also known as STEM). Since 2011, this organization is uniquely tackling issues of diversity by introducing females, minorities, and those from underrepresented communities to STEM college and career opportunities.

Tuesday, June 12, 2018 marked the return of the Philadelphia Dance Company's (PHILADANCO) long awaited return to The Joyce Theater for the first time since 2012. The program featured four pieces including three New York premieres. The company, known for tackling social justice issues through dance, showcased an exciting repertoire that shines light on the past and present social climate and its effects on people of color.

Friday, June 1, 2018 kicked off Rennie Harris Puremovement's New York engagement and return to the New Victory Theater, right in the heart of Times Square. The program featured the world premiere of the company's evening length piece: Rennie Harris: Funkedified in a multi-media work highlighting a variety of street dance styles such as Campbell locking, popping, waving, breaking, and social dances from the 1970s in collaboration with the internationally-acclaimed Hood Lockers.

On a typical Monday evening, most folks find themselves on their way home after a long day of work, beginning to unwind for the night, or enjoying the spring evening outside sitting on a bench or having a nice glass of wine. But May 7, 2018 was a special evening to celebrate the impact of Latino leaders at the Ballet Hispanico CARNAVAL gala at The Plaza Hotel in New York City. In addition to being the company's annual fundraiser, it is also a time to celebrate the impact of Ballet Hispanico in communities across the nation while honoring four pioneers and influential Latino leaders whose contributions have made them a major force in their respective fields around the world.

As the month of May began turning up the heat with unseasonable, record-breaking temperatures, Harlem Stage also turned up the audience with its E-Moves19 dance festival, May 2-5, 2018 at the Harlem Stage Gatehouse. For nearly two decades, this signature dance series has had a rich, long history of highlighting the world's cultures and contemporary dance by artists who represent various traditional dance forms and those who are creating new ones. This year's festival had a focus on contemporary African choreographers while posing the question of “how an African choreographer includes their culture within a modern or Western aesthetic?” The program explores this mash-up of cultures in an intriguing way.

On the afternoon of March 31, 2018, Aries in Flight, under the direction of Catherine Mancuso, presented its 3rd performance showcase at the TADA! Youth Theater in New York City. The showcase featured the work of thirteen emerging choreographers from the Greater NYC metropolitan area. The mission of the company is to enable dancers and performers to learn, create, and explore their craft in a safe, judgement-free environment. Ms. Mancuso is proud to celebrate diversity in dance by presenting this showcase with a wide range of dance styles and techniques.

On the evening of April 3, 2018, The Dance Factory led by Artistic Director Dada Masilo returned to The Joyce Theater following their successful season back in 2016. Masilo- who is known for her unique and innovative interpretations of classical ballets such as Romeo and Juliet, Carmen, and Swan Lake- presented the New York premiere of her latest work, Giselle. This is not the original story that audiences have come to know for generations. But rather, retells and reimagines the story from a feminist lens with a twist.

Ailey II kicked off its 2018 New York season at the Ailey Citigroup Theater with dynamic works by some of the most exciting emerging dancers and choreographers. Just as the company wraps up their 32-city world tour, this season brings audiences two thrilling programs with three world premieres along with some contemporary favorites.

Each year, the New York City Center along with other venues across New York City, have presented some of Spain's finest dancers and musicians to perform on major concert stages... Now in its 18th year, the 2018 New York Flamenco Festival has brought some of flamenco's biggest names to the New York area, for a celebration of flamenco's present and future- spanning the full spectrum of what is flamenco.

Trailblazer: The Story of Ballerina Raven Wilkinson is a new children's book, that tells the little-known story of the world-renowned Raven Wilkinson- the first African American woman to dance for a major classical ballet company. This biography was written by Leda Schubert with illustrations by Theodore Taylor III and a forward by ABT Principal dancer Misty Copeland.

On Tuesday, February 6, 2018, world-renowned dancer and choreographer, Ronald K. Brown and his groundbreaking company EVIDENCE kicked off their season at The Joyce Theater for a limited engagement through February 11th. The Brooklyn-based company, returns for the first time since its successful season back in July 2016. This occasion marks the world premiere of new works, performances of old, yet relevant pieces, and the celebration of Associate Artistic Director, Arecell Cabuag's 20th anniversary with the company.

December 19, 2017 kicked off the season of award-winning tapper, Michelle Dorrance and her internationally-acclaimed company, Dorrance Dance, at The Joyce Theater in New York City. Michelle Dorrance and Dorrance Dance are known for pushing the limits of what tap can do, while staying true to its history and traditions. The company's highly anticipated return to the Joyce stage proved not to be a disappointment!