AileyCamp Performance Showcases Students' Newfound Dance Skills

August 7, 2006

Final Performance Celebrates 16 Years of New York Partnership between Alvin Ailey and The Children’s Aid Society

WHERE/WHEN:
The New York CAS/AileyCamp final performance will start at 7 pm at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre (2960 Broadway at 116th St.). This performance is free and open to the public. Photographers and camera crews are invited to attend.

“Before I came here, I didn’t express myself. I was shy. When I’m on stage, I feel like a superstar.”
- 12-year-old New York CAS/AileyCamper Velma Solomon

WHO:
Over 80 CAS/New York AileyCampers, ages 11-14 from Washington Heights, Central Harlem, East Harlem, the Bronx and other communities in New York City, will give an inspiring performance including choreographed dances, poetry readings and theatrical improvisation.

WHAT:
Produced in conjunction with The Children’s Aid Society (CAS), CAS/AileyCamp New York is an innovative six-week summer dance camp that uses dance as a vehicle for developing self-esteem, creative expression and critical thinking skills for underserved youth. Students attend AileyCamp under full scholarship. This summer, daily sessions included extensive dance training in ballet, tap and Horton technique along with percussion workshops and creative communication, theater, Ailey history and personal development classes.

CONTACTS:
Megan Fortunato, (212) 405.9079 or in the evening at (516) 369.6688
Tyrha M. Lindsey, (212) 405.9076 or in the evening (908) 672.6024
Emily Crossan, (917) 286-1548 or in the evening (201) 344-5742

Founded in 1958, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) is known as America’s cultural ambassador to the world. To date, AAADT has performed for more than 21 million people in 71 countries and on 6 continents. Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, Inc. is the umbrella organization which includes AAADT; Ailey II, founded in 1974 as a junior performing company of emerging young dancers and innovative choreographers; The Ailey School, founded in 1969 and currently offering some of the most extensive dance training programs in the world; Ailey Arts In Education & Community Programs which is committed to bringing dance into the classrooms, communities and lives of people throughout the world; and The Ailey Extension, a new program that offers dance and fitness classes to the general public.

The Children’s Aid Society (CAS) was founded in 1853. It is one of the nation’s largest and most innovative non-sectarian agencies, serving more than 150,000 of New York’s neediest children and their families with a network of services that includes community schools, neighborhood centers, camps, adoption and foster care services, teen pregnancy prevention, education, health and recreation. For more information, please call 212-949-4938 or visit www.childrensaidsociety.org.