Anthony Anderson & Roland S. Martin Chair 2016 Ailey Spirit Gala Today

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's two-week spring engagement at Lincoln Center's David H. Koch Theater kicks off today, Wednesday, June 8th with The Ailey Spirit Gala, a one-night-only benefit performance and party.

The Ailey Spirit Gala benefit performance at 7pm includes the world-renowned Ailey dancers in excerpts of Alvin Ailey's Cry and Robert Battle's Awakening. The rising stars of Ailey II will perform Ray Mercer's Something Tangible, gifted young dancers from The Ailey School (ages 6 to 23) will showcase their talents and the breadth of the program's training in a new work, and talented students from AileyCamp will perform a work inspired by Talley Beatty's The Stack-up. An expanded cast of the present and future stars of Ailey will come together for a memorable finale of Alvin Ailey's timeless Revelations. Following the performance, a dance party on the promenade will be driven by the musical stylings of deejay to the stars, DJ M.O.S.

The benefit, sponsored by FedEx, features actor Anthony Anderson of black-ish and Barbershop: The Next Cut and journalist Roland S. Martin of TV One and the Tom Joyner Morning Show as Honorary Chairs. Gala Co-Chairs are Gina F. Adams, Lynne & Anthony M. Carvette, Leslie & Tom Maheras, Almaz & Marc S. Strachan and Daria L. & Eric J. Wallach.

Attendees will have the opportunity to witness the impact of their charitable giving firsthand as Ailey's talented young students take the stage. Gala proceeds support scholarships to The Ailey School and Ailey's Arts In Education & Community Programs-including AileyCamp, an innovative, full-scholarship summer program that uses the art of dance as a means to help young people stretch their minds, bodies and spirits. In all, these programs serve more than 100,000 young people annually. For more information on benefit tickets starting at $500 call 212-405-9031.

Ailey's 15-performance engagement runs through June 19th and includes the world premiere of Deep by Mauro Bigonzetti and Untitled America: Second Movement by Kyle Abraham. The season will also include new productions of Robert Battle's The Hunt and Ulysses Dove's Vespers. For further information, and to purchase tickets starting at $25, visit www.alvinailey.org.

Programming - Subject to Change:

The Ailey Spirit Gala: Performances by AileyCamp, The Ailey School, Ailey II & Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, incl. Revelations

Wednesday, 6/8 at 7:00pm

21st Century Voices: Open Door, Untitled America: Second Movement / No Longer Silent / Exodus

Thursday, 6/9 at 7:30pm, Saturday, 6/11 at 8:00pm, Friday, 6/17 at 8:00pm, Sunday, 6/19 at 3:00pm

Dance Trailblazers: Deep / Piazzolla Caldera / Revelations

Friday, 6/10 at 8:00pm, Saturday, 6/11 at 2:00pm*, Sunday, 6/12 at 7:30pm

All Ailey: Blues Suite / Love Songs, Cry / Revelations

Sunday, 6/12 at 3:00pm, Thursday, 6/16 at 7:30pm

Bold Visions: Deep / Vespers, The Hunt / Revelations

Tuesday, 6/14 at 7:30pm, Saturday, 6/18 at 2:00pm*, Sunday, 6/19 at 7:30pm

Musical Inspirations: Open Door / Awakening, A Case of You / Revelations

Wednesday, 6/15 at 7:30pm, Saturday, 6/18 at 8:00pm

*Family Matinee - followed by a post-performance Q&A session with the dancers

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 forever changed the perception of American dance. Founded by Alvin Ailey, 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 23 million people in 71 countries on 6 continents, 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 Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami?Dade County in Miami, 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 bring dance into the classrooms, communities and lives of people of all ages; and The Ailey Extension (2005), a program offering dance and fitness classes to the general public, which coincided 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 www.alvinailey.org.