Latest news with #AlvinAileyAmericanDanceTheater
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
MAGA Kennedy Center Boss Demands Probe Into Its ‘Criminal Debt'
The head of the Kennedy Center, who was installed by President Donald Trump, has demanded an investigation into its 'criminal debt.' Richard Grenell has referred the Kennedy Center to federal prosecutors over its deferred maintenance and debt after a review 'found $26 million in phantom revenue, fake revenue,' The New York Times reported. The figures are from an audit by Donna Arduin, the center's new chief financial officer, though it was not immediately clear what dealings she thought warranted a criminal investigation. It is common for arts venues such as the Kennedy Center to operate at a deficit when they fall short of projected earnings. Grenell was installed as president of the Kennedy Center in February after Trump fired incumbent Deborah F. Rutter. Trump also removed the Center's Chairman, David M. Rubenstein, and awarded himself the position, vowing to make the venue 'non-woke.' A spokesperson for Rubenstein defended the financier's management of the Kennedy Center. 'With full transparency, the financial reports were reviewed and approved by the Kennedy Center's audit committee and full board as well as a major accounting firm,' he said, The New York Times reported. The Republican president's first act as chairman was to ban drag shows at the venue—though the center's 2025-26 season program announced Monday boasts performances of Chicago, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Monty Python's Spamalot, all of which typically feature actors in drag. Several high profile actors have refused to perform at the venue in response to Trump's ideological changes, among them a production of Hamilton which cancelled their planned run. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which is usually a mainstay of the center's program, said it would not appear during the ballet season. Instead, the company said it will 'pursue an opportunity with a partner that has a global reach,' without providing details. Actors have also spoken out over Trump's changes to the Kennedy Center. Last week Robert De Niro used his acceptance speech at the Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or lifetime achievement award to rip into the president. 'America's philistine president has had himself appointed head of one of our premier cultural institutions,' De Niro said. 'He has cut funding and support to the arts, humanities and education.' He added: 'The arts are democratic. Art is inclusive. It brings people together, like tonight. Art looks for truth. Art embraces diversity. And that's why art is a threat. That's why we are a threat to autocrats and fascists.'
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
DOGE Went After Arts Funding. Music Docs Are Paying the Price
For documentary filmmaker Randall MacLowry, the Black folk hero John Henry was a natural subject. The mythical 19th-century figure who helped install railroad tracks by way of his sledgehammer skills, Henry has been saluted in literature (Colson Whitehead's John Henry Days), dance (part of a program by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater), and especially music. Bob Dylan named-checked Henry in a 2015 speech, Jason Isbell wrote a song about him ('The Day John Henry Died') during his Drive-By Truckers days, and Johnny Cash recorded 'The Legend of John Henry's Hammer.' On their new duo album, What Did the Blackbird Say to the Crow, Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson cover 'John Henry' as well. But thanks to the new Trump administration and Elon Musk's DOGE agency, it may be a while before we see the planned documentary John Henry: Unmasking America's Real First Black Superhero — if we see it at all. More from Rolling Stone Senator Meets With Trump Immigration Victim in El Salvador Trump Dodges on El Salvador Court Orders: 'I'm Not Involved' Judges Smack Down Trump's 'Shocking' and 'Lawless' Arguments in Abrego Garcia Case On April 2, the National Endowment for the Humanities, which has for 60 years funded historical sites, museums, and documentaries (including a portion of Ken Burns' The Civil War), announced it was terminating most of its grant projects. The documentary world was hit particularly hard. As Deadline has reported, planned movies about fictional teen detective Nancy Drew and a 19th-century New York City riot are now endangered, along with, as Rolling Stone has learned, a few music docs in various stages of development and completion. As MacLowry discovered when he received his NEH email, the money he'd been promised last year to develop his John Henry doc was now gone: 'The NEH is repurposing its funding allocations in a new direction in furtherance of the President's agenda,' the letter (from Trump-appointed acting NEH head Michael McDonald) read, in part. 'The termination of your grant represents an urgent priority for the administration, and due to exceptional circumstances, adherence to the traditional notification process is not possible.' MacLowry and his production partner and spouse, Tracy Heather Strain, weren't alone in their shock. Last summer, Immy Humes, an Oscar-nominated documentarian who was planning a movie on groundbreaking jazz-world filmmaker Shirley Clarke, received what she recalls as the 'miraculous news' that her project had been awarded a production grant. 'It was literally life-changing for me,' Humes says. 'Every molecule of my brain was like, 'Oh my God! Joy and rapture!' My project start date was stated as Feb. 1. I was in heaven.' But like MacLowry and dozens more documentary makers, Humes too received her NEH termination notice two weeks ago. 'It looked like spam,' she says. 'It read like spam.' But it wasn't, leaving her Clarke movie in the lurch. In a somewhat comical turn, one termination letter was sent to director Augusta Palmer for an NEH-funded film, The Blues Society (about the legendary Memphis Country Blues Festival), that was already completed and released. (That doc's 2022 NEH agreement extended until this month.) But there was nothing funny about the other notices, which also applied to now-canceled funds for Sounds of the Uyghurs, an in-the-works doc on the traditional music of northwest China. According to reports, some of those collective NEH funds will now go toward building a patriotic-themed 'Garden of Heroes' at the White House. (The NEH did not respond to a request for comment from Rolling Stone.) While NEH funding doesn't always cover a film's entire production costs, the grants play a crucial role in the process. 'The NEH is one of the few places you can get that significant amount of money to really push a project forward,' says MacLowry, whose work has been featured in PBS' American Experience series. 'Getting that amount of money really gives us a better guarantee that the project will get made. The NEH was quite unique in being able to be public funding that actually could make such a significant difference in getting a project from the development stage to the screen.' The NEH once distributed anywhere from low five to upper six figures for such projects (and only after filmmakers completed an intense and arduous application nearly 100 pages long). The doc makers insist that those levels of funds are necessary. 'This money employs people,' says MacLowry, who received a $75,000 development grant for his Henry movie and, before the cuts, was planning to apply for a full-production grant closer to $700,000. 'It's not just a filmmaker getting lots of money to do what they want. You're hiring camera people, sound recorders, editors and composers. One filmmaker has 14 people working on that one and getting paid. For John Henry, we want to use the Johnny Cash song, and that's not going to be cheap.' In keeping with the NEH's past goal of enlightening history and telling untold stories, MacLowry says his goal with John Henry was to 'investigate how this mythical Black figure wielding a hammer in the afterlife of slavery becomes an American hero.' He adds, 'It's a powerful lens revealing how Black people interpreted their world in social status, expressed discontent and fantasized escape and resistance. John Henry also delves into issues of myth making, industrialization, racial exploitation, and cultural appropriation and Black masculinity.' As MacLowry says, Henry's story — about a worker who has to prove his worth against a machine built to replace men in those jobs — even speaks to concerns over AI. Although Shirley Clarke was a peer of renowned filmmakers D.A. Pennebaker and Jonas Mekas, she hasn't received nearly enough attention, a situation Humes had hoped to remedy with her film. Clarke's 1985 doc Ornette: Made in America took an unconventional approach to chronicling the life and music of saxophonist Ornette Coleman. The Connection, from 1961, was a fictional found-footage 'doc' about jazz heroin addicts that included pianist Freddie Redd and saxophonist Jackie Maclean in its cast. Clarke's 1964 The Cool World featured a score by Mal Waldron and performances by Dizzy Gillespie. 'She's considered by many to be the greatest jazz filmmaker who's ever lived,' Humes says. 'My film is about a filmmaker, but it's really a lot about music. She was way, way into jazz, and a lot of people say she was trying to make films that were like jazz composition.' Now Humes — who was told last year she'd received a $600,000 production grant for her untitled Clarke doc — is scrambling for replacement funding, along with many of her peers. 'It's been an intense two weeks,' Humes says. 'We're trying to support each other and brainstorm ways to help each other. I'm trying to figure out how to continue working, and I haven't gotten there yet. It's pretty disastrous.' Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
Chicago Tribune
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
Auditorium's 2025-26 dance season includes Ensemble Español and Trinity Irish Dance
The Auditorium Theatre, henceforth known simply as The Auditorium (50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive), has announced its calendar of dance performances for the 2025-26 season. The five performances, all by female-led dance companies, open in November with Chicago's own Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater and conclude next spring with the annual visit by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater (7:30 p.m. Nov. 15; tickets $30-$90): The company devoted to traditional Spanish dance, founded in 1975 by the late Dame Libby Komaiko, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year under artistic director Irma Suárez Ruiz. Martha Graham Dance Company (7:30 p.m. Jan. 24, 2026; tickets $35-$130): In another notable milestone, the contemporary Martha Graham Dance Company of New York dates back to 1926 and is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Trinity Irish Dance Company (7:30 p.m. Feb. 28; tickets $35-$95): Chicago's most-celebrated Irish dance company plans three world premieres next spring: founding artistic director Mark Howard and associate artistic director Chelsea Hoy's reinvention of the 1991's 'Johnny' and new works by guest choreographers Michelle Dorrance, and Jamey Hampton and Ashley Roland of BodyVox. 'Turn It Out with Tiler Peck & Friends' (7:30 p.m. March 7 and 3 p.m. March 8, 2026; tickets $35-$130): New York City Ballet dancer Tiler Peck will direct performances including Peck's own 'Thousandth Orange,' set to live music by Caroline Shaw. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (7:30 p.m. April 24-26, 2026, plus matinees at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.; tickets $40-$150): The longtime favorites make their annual visit under new artistic director Alicia Graf Mack.
CBS News
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Renowned dance theater hosts free class for Altadena seniors
Out of all the parts that made 76-year-old Vivien Fortunaso fall in love with her Altadena home, the garden was the one that she was most proud of. The Australia native chose Atladena as her permanent home in 1991 after a short stint in London. "Really friendly people," she said. "It's a very, very diverse community, which is why we like Altadena. She and her partner just finished a remodel with a dream kitchen overlooking the tranquil garden and the trail. "This became a really special place of us," Fortunaso said. "It's really hard to lose it." Fortunaso said that life has been a blur ever since the Eaton Fire destroyed their beloved home — at least, until recently. A few weeks ago, the renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater invited Fortunaso and several other seniors who lost their homes to a free dance class. "Mr. Ailey believed dance came from the people and it should be given back to the people," teacher Aaron Thomas said. Ailey is known as the father of African American modern dance. He used movement to express his history of growing up poor in the Deep South. "We're hoping to take the personal stories for all of our seniors and friends who join us, and be able to take those experiences and turn it into something beautiful," Thomas said. The class began with a simple, seated warmup. Fortunaso reunited with her neighbor as they followed each movement carefully. The group focused on the theme of resilience, using word association to create special movements. They also learned some choreography from Ailey's ballet masterpiece, Revelations, which explores grief, joy and hope. During the exercise, Fortunaso unexpectedly began to cry after the class gave her the opportunity and permission to not only heal but to feel. "Hoping to have some fun, to be honest with you, and a distraction," she said. "This just released my sadness and my loss." The unforgettable, therapeutic experience erased the blur surrounding her life since the fire. "I think I'm going to more of it," Fortunaso said. "I think I'm going to go home and dance."
New York Times
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Sara Mearns and Jamar Roberts Know This: Dance Is Tough Love
The first time Sara Mearns stepped into a studio with Jamar Roberts, she knew they were cut from the same dance cloth. 'We both had the same energy of, 'What are we doing?'' Last summer, Mearns was cast in a work by Roberts at Vail Dance Festival, where both were artists in residence. Their humor aligned. They were dance lovers and dance sufferers! Their energy picked up. Mearns, 39, a longtime principal at New York City Ballet, and Roberts, 42, a choreographer who spent years as a leading dancer at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, are devoted to dance. But they're not rah-rah about it every second of the day. They know its pain. At Vail, Mearns was pondering what to do for her Artists at the Center program, which opens Thursday at New York City Center. After working with Roberts, she said she knew: 'This is it.' The resulting collaboration, 'Dance Is a Mother,' with choreography by Roberts and music by Caroline Shaw, pairs Mearns with a stellar cast: the former Ailey dancers Jeroboam Bozeman and Ghrai DeVore-Stokes; and Anna Greenberg, who Roberts met at Miami City Ballet. The surprise is that Roberts is dancing in it too, but that makes sense given the context: The work is a love letter to dance. And for both Roberts and Mearns, it's testament to a life spent pursuing it. 'I think we have very similar feelings about dance and our careers, our relationship to dance,' Roberts said. 'It's sort of this love-hate thing, at least for me.' 'Dance Is a Mother' is a reminder of why they fell for dance in the first place. The program's other work, 'Don't Go Home' — conceived by Mearns, the choreographer Guillaume Côté and the writer Jonathon Young — is a foray into dance theater that depicts the struggle a dancer goes through while preparing for a role. 'They couldn't be more opposite if they tried,' Mearns said of the two works on the program. Recently Mearns and Roberts joined up for a video interview about their shared sensibilities, their time working together and why dance is the mother you love to hate. Or is it hate to love? In either case, here are edited excerpts from that conversation. So how is dance a mother? ROBERTS Dance nurtures, and it's grown me up so much, from the time I entered the professional space at 18 until now. It teaches you the hard lessons. Dance mothers you, and sometimes you just hate her, but no matter what, you love her. You're kind of stuck with her forever. How did this collaboration start? MEARNS We met in a park, and he asked me: 'What do you want to feel when you go out there? What head space are you going to be in when you go out onstage? What do you want to look like?' I had never been asked those questions before about a piece. I almost didn't know how to answer. But it started this conversation about how we feel at this point in our careers. In what way? MEARNS We've both had very long careers and been through a lot: a lot of baggage, a lot of ups and downs, a lot of pain — but a lot of great things too. We started talking about that love and joy that we had when we were 10 years old. Is that still there? Only people at this stage would understand that or be able to answer that question or not answer that question. So I thought that was a very cool way of going in to make a piece. Jamar, how did you want the dance to feel? ROBERTS I remember agreeing that we wanted to make a slow piece. Because everything is just mad turbo these days, myself and my work included. And I wanted it to feature Sara in the way that she felt the most comfortable. When we were at the park she said, 'I don't have to be the first one onstage.' It's probably something that I would say if somebody was choreographing a piece for me. I wanted it to feel like each dancer's contribution was equal for the most part. Even though the piece is for the audience, I wanted it to feel like a glorified dance studio. MEARNS But if this is slow to him, I don't even want to know what fast movement is. ROBERTS Listen, I said it would be a good challenge. Part of this experience is being able to dance with others on equal terms? MEARNS I think I did want to have a communal situation, because I don't really get to have that. Even if I'm part of a bigger piece, it's usually, Sara, this is your movement. I'm not saying there's anything bad about that, but I miss dancing in a group. This is a very close group of five people that are dancing together and that are on the same train, going the same place at the same rate. Jamar, why did you want to be in the piece? ROBERTS That's kind of a deep question. Loaded. Choreography was feeding me in a certain way when I first started, and over time the honeymoon phase wears off, and so the question of purpose came into play. Not so much purpose in the grand sense, but a daily sort of purpose. The nearest thing that gave me that same sort of satisfaction or gratification was dance. How did you announce your plan? ROBERTS I said to Sara, 'What would you think if I danced in the show?' I was a little concerned only because I was like, It's Sara's show. Sara's a thing. I'm a thing. And I didn't want to be up there taking the shine away from Sara. Tell her what you said, Sara. MEARNS I sent back an entire text of exclamation points. I had been waiting for this moment. I was like, I can't ask him to be in it. I just can't do that to him because I don't think he's in that place anymore and I'm not going to force it. How is it going? Are you finding that satisfaction from dancing? ROBERTS I don't really need the stage and the lights and the audience to get what I need from dance. So, yes. It's tough having to divide myself between the dance maker and the dancer. But I think it's reminded me of a certain power that you get from being able to will your body into doing things. It's a strange ego booster. It's an interesting little tool that dancers have. Do you relate to that? MEARNS Oh yes. That's what I mean when we both walk in the studio the same way. I feel like we both have that feeling of, 'I don't know if this is going to happen today.' And then you get into the rehearsal vibe and you start learning steps and then you get into this groove. It's this unbelievable feeling. No one else can do that for me. I have to get there. It was much easier to get to the top, to get to this place many years ago. But then to consistently come back every single day and do it? Have you been able to return to that place of why you started dancing in the first place? ROBERTS I have. The love has always been there, even when I'm not performing. I don't think it'll ever go away. MEARNS I was told once that I was an anomaly because of how I feel about dance. I don't feel this way about anything else in my life. And sometimes that has shut me off from the world. That has made me feel alone or lonely or not like anybody else. But I wouldn't have it any other way, because this is what I've dedicated my life to.
