Linda Celeste Sims: Pure Light

By Walter Rutledge

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Outstanding performers have always been the hallmark of The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Dancers that consistently test the technical and artistic boundaries of modern dance remain a fundamental part of founder Alvin Ailey’s continuing legacy. Artists Carmen DeLavalallade, Dudley Williams, Judith Jamison, Miguel Godreau, Linda Kent, Sara Yarborough, Sarita Allen, Gary deLoatch, Desmond Richardson, and Renee Robinson all possessed an innate ability beyond technique, a God given gift that unfortunately cannot be taught. When the stage lights hit these special individuals it is refracted into dazing, flawless, pure light that pulls you in… moth to flame. Celeste Linda Sims is pure light. Continue reading

Ailey Returns To Lincoln Center Today

By Walter Rutledge

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Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns to the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center for 15 performances beginning, Wednesday, June 11.  Continue reading

Shall We Dance Friday: Dudley Williams- I Wanna Be Ready (1986)

Shall We Dance

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In a long, brilliant career, Dudley Williams worked with such artists as Martha Graham, Talley Beatty, and Donald McKayle. Most significantly, he was a member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater for more than forty years. Although Williams retired from that company in 2005, some months before his 67th birthday, he still teaches at the Ailey School. He also makes guest appearances as a teacher at the Martha Graham School. “[Dudley Williams is] amazing—an inspiration to everybody, a real poet with movement.” –Alvin Ailey from Revelations: The Autobiography of Alvin Ailey.

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