Ailey 2 Tours UK For First Time

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has successfully toured the UK three times in the past five years, presented by Dance Consortium, but this will be the first time its younger Second Company, Ailey 2, will appear in Britain. Formed in 1974, Ailey 2 is renowned for merging the spirit and energy of the world's best young dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today's most outstanding emerging choreographers. Ailey 2 dancers have been trained at The Ailey School and, after two years with the company, many of them go on to perform with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, with other prominent dance companies, on Broadway, or in other commercial work. Currently, 77% of the 30 dancers in Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater honed their craft in Ailey 2.

The younger company is full of passion, enthusiasm and energy and is led by Artistic Director Sylvia Waters, herself a former dancer with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and Associate Artistic Director, Troy Powell, who began training at the age of nine at The Ailey School before joining Ailey 2 and then performing with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for a decade.

The 12 members of Ailey 2 perform diverse dance repertoires, which include Alvin Ailey classics along with thrilling new works by today's most prominent choreographers. For the UK tour, there will be two programmes, which will both include the much-loved Alvin Ailey classic Revelations, featuring traditional spiritual songs, gospel songs and holy blues from the American South. Revelations is now on the English curriculum. Other pieces which will be in one or other of the programmes will be Donald Byrd's Shards, Thang Dao's Echoes, loosely based on his family's journey from Vietnam to America and featuring all 12 dancers, Troy Powell's The External Knot with music by Philip Glass and Robert Schumann, Artistic Director Designate of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Robert Battle's The Hunt, which examines the relationship between modern sports and the rituals of the gladiators, and Jessica Lang's Splendid Isolation II, The Calling, which was created in 2006 for Ailey 2 and is set to music by Trio Mediaeval and focuses on a woman trapped centre-stage in the folds of an elegant white dress.

When questioned about the company's first international touring year, Artistic Director Sylvia Waters said, "This is a groundbreaking year for Ailey 2. The Company has earned a place on the world stage, and we look forward to sharing our unique spirit, dance artistry, and choreographic works with audiences from Belfast, UK to Columbus, Ohio!"

Ailey 2's UK tour is organised by Dance Consortium. Its UK tours are supported by Arts Council England. For further information please visit www.danceconsortium.com.

2011 UK Tour Schedule

Programme A: Shards / Echoes / Revelations
Programme B: The External Knot / Splendid Isolation II, The Calling, The Hunt /
Revelations

22-23 February Kings Theatre Glasgow Programme B 0844 871 7648
25-26 February Playhouse Nottingham Programme A 0115 941 9419
1-2 March Dome Brighton Programme B 01273 709709
4-5 March Pavilion Bournemouth Programme B 0844 576 3000
8-9 March Hall for Cornwall Truro Programme A 01872 262466
11-12 March Grand Opera House Belfast Programme B 028 9024 1919
15-16 March Lowry Salford Programme A 0843 208 6000

SYLVIA WATERS, Artistic Director
Since Ailey 2's inception over 35 years ago, Artistic Director Sylvia Waters has been responsible for the growth and expansion of one of the country's most vibrant dance companies. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Dance at The Juilliard School, and studied with distinguished faculty members Antony Tudor, Martha Graham, Alfredo Corvino, Ethel Winter, Helen McGhee, Bertram Ross and Mary Hinkson. Following her graduation from Juilliard, Ms Waters moved to Paris, where she appeared regularly on television and worked with Michel Descombey, then director of the Paris Opera Ballet, as well as Milko Sparembleck, and subsequently performed in Brussels and at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City. Ms. Waters returned to the United States in 1968 and joined
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She toured as a principal dancer with the Company until assuming her current position with Ailey 2. Ms Waters has also established a distinguished reputation as a teacher, conducting master classes throughout the US and Europe. In 1997, she received an honorary doctorate from the State University of New York at Oswego. She has served as a panellist for the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts. In 2008, Ms. Waters received the Legacy Award as part of the 20th Annual IABD Festival, Syracuse University's Women of Distinction Award and the prestigious Dance Magazine Award. Most recently, Ms Waters was a Visiting Lecturer at Harvard University during the 2010 spring semester.

TROY POWELL, Associate Artistic Director
Troy Powell, a native New Yorker, began his dance training at the age of nine at The Ailey School. Following his graduation from The High School of Performing Arts, he became a member of Ailey 2. Mr. Powell joined Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1991. He toured throughout the United States, South America, Europe and South Africa for ten years before becoming a master teacher at The Ailey School and resident choreographer of Ailey II. Mr. Powell has choreographed ballets for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey 2, Dallas Black Dance Theater, National Dance Company of the Bahamas and Alaska Dance Theater, as well as three episodes of "Sesame Street." His guest artist credits include performing with companies such as Batsheva, Dallas Black Dance Theater and Complexions. Featured in an American Express commercial with Alvin Ailey
American Dance Theater, Mr. Powell has also appeared on television in George C. Wolfe's "The Colored Museum," the PBS Great Performances: Dance in America special A Hymn for Alvin Ailey, choreographed by Judith Jamison, and most recently, America's Next Top Model.

To post a comment, you must register and login.