Campus
Alvin Ailey Dancers Take BCC
\e^
above: SHSBCC program coordinator/publicist
Ange-Marie Hancock and Nelson Cabassa, Alvin
Ailey Repertory Ensemble,
below: Bradley Shelver of the Alvin Ailey
Repertory Ensemble and Opeyo! Modem members
at the Ailey master class,
photos: Delvin Davis
By Antoinette Kerr
With precision, technique
and soulful expression,
the student dancers of
the Alvin Ailey Repertory
Ensemble glorified the vision of
the Sonja Haynes Stone Black
Cultural Center. This sold-out
performance on Friday, February
5th at 8p.m. in UNC’s Memorial
Hall, raised $25, 000 for a free
standing Black Cultural Center.
In 1974, choreographer,
Alvin Ailey created the Alvin
Ailey Repertory Ensemble to
complement the professional
Dance Theater. Each of the twelve
repertory members were selected
from the Alvin Ailey Dance Center
in New York, N.Y.
The Ensemble allows tal
ented students, selected by Artistic
Director Sylvia Walters, to travel
the world teaching masters classes
and performing pieces that repre
sent Black culture. Each perform
ance varies from one program to
the next. This performance includ
ed Alley’s signature piece,
Revelations, which explores ele
ments of the southern Black
Christian tradition.
SHSBCC Program
Coordinator/Publicist Ange-Marie
Hancock said the Ailey dancers
were chosen as a fundraiser
because they exhibit the themes of
the Black Cultural Center, especial
ly through their performance of
Revelations.
The dancers spent that
Saturday teaching children
involved in the SHSBCC program
and OPEYO! dance techniques.
“We choose the Repertory
Ensemble because they are stu
dents,” said Hancock. “They were
able to relate to the students better
because they are so young.”
BSM Liaison Eboni Staton
said she enjoyed interpreting the
dancers performance. “It was beau
tiful and 1 tried to figure out the
story in every dance,” said Staton.
“It was the best use of $30 that I
have spent at Carolina.”
Black Ink