Press Coverage

April 23, 2019

Dance Spirit - How Ailey's Samantha Figgins Dances With Hearing Loss

Samantha Figgins is currently in her fifth season with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (and was a Dance Spirit cover girl back in 2013!). But what many people don't know is that the gorgeous dancer suffers from single-sided deafness. As a baby, Figgins contracted spinal meningitis, which caused her to lose all hearing in her right ear. She never gave up on her dance dreams, though, and fought her way through uncomfortable situations, never missing an opportunity to learn and grow. Now, after getting her first pair of hearing aids, she opens up about her path to success. —(As told to Courtney Celeste Spears)

April 03, 2019

Spectrum News Los Angeles - The Beat On 1: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Comes To Los Angeles

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Rehearsal Director and Guest Artist Matthew Rushing discusses his ties to the Los Angeles area, how he started dancing and the programming for Ailey’s engagement at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion April 3-7.

March 21, 2019

NOLA.com - Dancer Who Left New Orleans At 13 Finally Gets To Perform In His Hometown -- With Alvin Ailey

On Saturday evening (March 23), the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will dance a dance about circles. It's a dance about time, and evolution, and what changes and, of course, what stays the same. It's about destiny and journeys and how fate makes all of those things flop on top of each other in a precise but messy Venn diagram. As the lead dancer in "EN," New Orleans-born Michael Jackson, Jr. will be performing right in the center.

March 12, 2019

Dance Spirit - Meet The Ailey Dancer Who Takes Stunning Photos Of Her Coworkers

Danica Paulos, who's now in her fifth season with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, moves with captivating grace and power onstage. And when she's not wowing in-person audiences, the multitalented artist is mesmerizing Ailey's online followers: A gifted photographer, she regularly posts beautiful images of her coworkers to the @alvinailey Instagram page, which she's run for the past two years. We caught up with Paulos to talk about her diverse interests— and find out how she's helped shape AAADT's digital presence.

February 21, 2019

WABE - Alvin Ailey Choreographer Brings 'Members Don't Get Weary' To Atlanta

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre has been creating transcendent moments for 60 years, and one of its newest voices is that of dancer and choreographer Jamar Roberts.

February 18, 2019

Arts ATL - Alvin Ailey Artist Taps Georgia Roots To Vivify Founder's Legacy

In the sun-soaked foyer of Atlanta's National Center for Civil and Human Rights, a tall, lean young man guided about 40 dance students last month as they learned an excerpt from Alvin Ailey's masterpiece Revelations. Christopher R. Wilson, a native of Augusta, Georgia, and a first-year member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, moved with ease and elegance between lines of young dancers, calling directions in a voice that matched the choreography's rhythm and cadence.

February 18, 2019

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - Augusta Native To Make Atlanta Debut

Christopher Wilson was 11 years old when he sat mesmerized at the Fox Theatre watching a performance of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Today, some 12 years later, he's come full circle.

February 14, 2019

WLRN - Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Holds Public Workshop During Miami Visit

The New York City-based Alvin Ailey Dance Theater held a public workshop Wednesday night, giving local dancers across South Florida a chance to learn some of the company's iconic choreography.

February 08, 2019

NBC Nightly News - The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Celebrates 60 Years Of Modern Dance And Creative Expression

Dancer and choreographer Alvin Ailey gathered a handful of modern black dancers in 1958 to perform with him at New York’s 92nd Street YM-YWHA. It was here that the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, as well as Ailey’s vision for a more inclusive world of the art form, was born. Since then, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater has grown to include 32 dancers who have gone on to perform more than 235 works for an estimated 25 million people across six continents. This season, the dance company celebrates its 60th anniversary.

January 19, 2019

Jazz WCLK - 'UPFRONT' with Ray Cornelius featuring Christopher Wilson

Check out this weekend's edition of UPFRONT Inside Atlanta's Entertainment Industry. It features Ray Cornelius' one-on-one interviews with actress-singer-director Brely Evans, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre performer Christopher R. Wilson and Shelbia Jackson, Executive Director of the DeKalb Entertainment Commission.

Dancers